Obito's Legacy
by wife-chan
Summary: Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose him too. Time travel. De-aged, post-war Harry. AU. Kakashi Gaiden. WIP
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter One: _Kakashi_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** Co-written by the two authors who make up _wife-chan_. We found that we have almost exactly the same tastes in fic and had to see if we could collab something :) This is our first try, so please be kind and let us know how we're doing! Thanks!

**Summary:** Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose _him_ too. Time travel. De-aged Harry.

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Inu, fourteen year old member of Konohagakure's ANBU, shushins to the area where a chakra flash has just been noticed. He's been sent to investigate by his Hokage. There had been something disturbingly familiar about the feel of the chakra and Namikaze Minato is wary, what with the war with Iwa looming so close in the future.

"Inu-san," Karasu, also of Konohagakure's ANBU, lands beside him, "I have found nothing."

"Dismissed." Inu says flatly. If a member of ANBU with the Byakugan can't find anything, it is easy to assume that there was in fact nothing to be found. That doesn't necessarily make it correct, however. Karasu bows his head and shushins away. Inu lifts his hand to his mask and nudges the white porcelain away from his jaw. He brings his thumb to his cloth covered mouth and bites down hard. He drops to the soft ground in a crouch, pressing his hand and bloody thumb into the moss, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

There is a soft popping sound and a surge of smoke. Inu waves the smoke away and is left looking into the dark eyes of a small pug dog.

"Pakkun."

"Inu," Pakkun cocks his head to the side, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, "Tracking?"

"Chakra flash. Looking for origin."

"Hai, Taichou," Pakkun stands and sniffs the air. Inu leaps back into the trees and watches his ninken check the area out. It not that he doesn't trust Karasu, but the familiarity of the chakra that he'd felt was strange and for some reason set him on edge.

He can't say why, exactly, other than the fact that the familiarity of the chakra should have been impossible. He knows the his squad's chakra intimately, and other than them there are very few people whose chakra he would recognize the way he recognized this flare.

When Pakkun starts moving forward with careful steps, Inu follows, still deep in thought. His eyes scan their surroundings constantly, a habit most shinobi pick up after a few years of service. It wouldn't do to let his guard down just because he is troubled. Being complacent is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed.

Maybe it's an enemy trap? Since the Byakugan hadn't been able to locate the source of the flare, it could be that it is some kind of genjutsu that confuses the senses. Masters of the illusionary art are known to be able to confuse one or more senses with minimal chakra output... and if that is the case, this could be a very dangerous endevour to go about alone.

Pakkun begins running ahead just when Inu decides to call Karasu back, and he hesitates briefly before forging on after his summon. Karasu would be long gone already, and if this was a trap, it would be better if there was someone in Konoha who would know his last location in case this goes badly.

The summoned mutt stops so abruptly that Inu almost overtakes him. He lands silently on a branch hidden in a particularly overgrown thatch of leaves and listens carefully for any sign of enemy footsteps or breathing.

It takes a few moments, but his ears adjust to the irrelevant sounds of the forest - birds singing, wind rustling the leaves overhead, his own breathing - and he picks up a discrepancy in the otherwise expected forest noise.

Weak breathing, with irregular exhales that ends in small gasps, coming from the area just before Pakkun. Inu readies a kunai in hand, eyes sharpening at the mass of thorny bushes growing in front of a particularly large oak.

Charging his ANBU arm bracers with chakra, Inu shoves his hands into the thorns and rips the branches away as quietly as he can.

What he finds shocks him.

A small child with pitch black hair, wearing nothing but rags for clothes is huddled next to the base of the oak trunk. It's hard to tell from the bunched and uneven clothing, but he thinks that the child may be trembling.

Inu frowns and crouches close to the ground. He gestures discretely for Pakkun to come forward. Children usually like small dogs, so Inu is sure that Pakkun won't be seen as a threat.

"Hello," His voice is low and even through his masks his concern can be heard. He is ANBU, true, but anyone would be concerned to find such a small child alone in a forest.

The child scrambles to its feet and Inu is shocked again. Large red and black eyes met his own, and his shock is such that he forgets to analyze the child's face for clues to his identity and physical state.

The sharingan.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me, I didn't mean to-" The child closes his mouth with a snap the moment he looks down to Inu's feet and sees the dog. Fear fills the air and the child backs up as far as far as possible, pressing himself into the tree.

"Shh," Inu murmurs to the child and Pakkun inches backwards, away from the two of them. Thankfully Pakkun is smart enough to act on his own and Inu doesn't have to command him to fall back. As a summoned dog, he is also very intuitive when it came to the emotional states of others, so Inu isn't surprised to feel Pakkun dismiss himself from the summons.

Animals, particularly summons, are known for being able to feel a larger range of the human emotional spectrum, whereas shinobi could only feel emotions pertaining to their job; namely killing intent.

"Please- please don't hurt me," The child stutters out and Inu kneels; his knees sink into the mossy earth and he hopes that at his slow movements, the child will calm.

It is simply amazing, the level and amount of chakra the child is throwing around. The air around the child is saturated with it, spiking and swirling chaotically. And the child doesn't even look tired.

"I am Inu." The child curls in on itself and Inu curses silently. He would really like to know, at the very least, the child's sex. "Do you have a name?" Inu asks gently. He is not a person that gets along well with children. He is a genius and emotions have always seemed so hard to understand.

"... Harry," The child is still curled up against the tree and Inu can barely hear his whisper.

"Hiri," Inu knows that he mangled the name, but the accent that the - _boy_, _he thinks -_ says it with is strange. "Are you hurt?"

Hiri is dirty and dressed in rags, but Inu can't smell any blood except for the bit that he spilt to summon Pakkun. "I-I-," Hiri stutters to a stop and Inu silently encourages him, "N-no?" Hiri's voice rises at the end in question and Inu flinches. Thankfully his mask stops Hiri from seeing it.

"Are you sure?" Inu settles back when he sees Hiri try to move around the tree to get away from him. He isn't sure how observant the child is, but his sharingan was obviously working if he'd seen Inu try to inch forward slowly.

"I think so," Hiri licks lips and weakly spits dirt out of his mouth, "I-I'm just tired."

Inu is surprised. Most children Hiri's age, or at the age Inu places Hiri at, doesn't speak as clearly as Hiri did.

"No bleeding?" He tries to coax the boy into answering him, keeping his tone low and even. He isn't sure how well it's working, because Hiri still looks scared, but at least he doesn't look _more _frightened than he did before.

"N-no," Hiri's stuttering had turned into a speak impediment because of the cold. Inu imagines that the child has been alone for at least a week and he feels like frowning. How could such a young child survive in the wilderness alone? There were a few stray animals - bears and such - in the area. Perhaps Hiri has just managed to avoid them all. And he obviously hasn't eaten any of the wildly growing poisoned herbs. From the look of him, he hasn't eaten _anything_.

With that thought in mind, he asks, "Are you hungry?" He digs into his black cloak and pulls out a rations bar. It wouldn't taste very good, but it is nutritious and the boy looks like he needs it.

Hiri's left hand spasms and then the boy reaches out carefully with his right, "Please?" He pleads in a near-whisper.

"Here," Inu brings the bar up in his hand and rips it open. He takes a chunk out of the end and passes it into the boy's small hand. Hiri doesn't notice Inu's chakra grasping a strand of his own, nor does he notice Inu 'tasting' his scent.

Hiri does notice when Inu goes completely still. "S-sir?"

The chakra is familiar. The scent is familiar. Inu intimately knows the scent and chakra that Hiri's resembles. It would have been hard for him not to recognize it, when that chakra was once the chakra that ran his own red sharingan eye.

"Obito," Inu breathes out the name. He knows this chakra.

"H-Harry," Hiri insists around the mouthful of food.

Shaking his head slowly to clear it, Inu offers Hiri more of the rations bar. The child is cold and tired and it would be easy for Inu to grab him, but he can't bring himself to do something like that to his best friends _child._

There is no way Hiri can be anyone but Obito's child. He does look a little small, but given the situation Inu found the boy in, it isn't be hard for him to assume that Hiri has been abused for most of his life. Inu can see glimpses of Hiri's torso through the holes in the rags and he can count the boy's ribs.

The mere thought of Obito's child being abused angers Inu beyond anything he has ever felt before and only the resemblance Hiri bears to Obito stays his killing intent. Hiri is not trained in chakra sensing and Inu doesn't want Hiri to think that he is mad at him.

He inhales quietly, using a few basic meditative exercises to get his emotions under control. These exercises are something he hasn't needed for years and he needs them more than once as he watches Obito's child devour the ration bar as though it is the most exquisite food the boy has ever had.

The thought that maybe that _is _the case makes his fists clench with tightly controlled anger. The worst part is that he doesn't know what to do; he doesn't know if he should just up and take Hiri with him to Konoha, if he should ask the boy more questions while they are still alone or if he should call someone - call Minato-sensei, since he wouldn't call anybody but him for this.

When the boy has licked the last crumbs off his small fingers, Inu slowly brings up a hand in the boy's line of sight. Hiri seems to curl in on himself at the motion, and the anger threatens to bubble up in Inu's throat and choke him, but he forges on ahead anyway.

It's not procedure, and it isn't to comfort the child when he slowly brings a gloved hand and places it on Obito's son's head. He hates how Hiri tenses like a bowstring under his touch, but he needs to confirm it before doing anything, before bringing Hiri anywhere.

He sends out a chakra probe into Hiri's chakra circulatory network. The boy won't be able to feel it since he hasn't been trained, so Inu isn't worried that the probe will disturb him. As it is, he seems distressed at Inu's touch by itself, though he isn't moving or trying to push his hand away.

That reaction angers Inu even more, since it shows that Hiri is so conditioned that he won't even attempt to defend himself anymore. He brings up his other hand, just as slowly, and forms a seal. Obito's child's sharingan eyes are spinning; it's the automatic reaction when the sharingan copies hand seals.

It's like coming home, the feeling the probe brings him. Inu can almost see his best friend's goofy grin when that familiar chakra resonates with his own. It's something he never thought he'd feel again and for a moment, the small malnourished face is replaced with an older one, wearing goggles.

Inu's eyes burn when he finally withdraws the probe, and he can't help but stroke the boy's dirty hair before removing his hand, a highly uncharacteristic gesture for him. Hiri's large eyes and scared expression mutes the complicated flood of feelings and Inu is suddenly acutely reminded of their location and of the boy's state. A flash of shame overtakes him when he sees the slight trembling of that small body.

No matter how he was feeling, ignoring Obito's son's needs would be like a slap to the face of the best friend he's ever had. And he's still not sure what to do, which is rather unbecoming of an ANBU. He's never this indecisive, usually.

"Hiri," he begins quietly, trying to be soothing and fearing failure in a way he hasn't done for quite some time, "I need to take you to see the Hokage, the leader of my village."

Hiri looks frightened and a little confused and Inu doesn't know what to do, what to say, and feels so inadequate his chest hurts. He needs to take Hiri to his sensei, but he doesn't want to force him - he doesn't think he _can_ force him.

"I-Inu-sama?" Hiri's teeth chatter and Inu is pleased that the child takes the initiative to speak without answering a question. He is not pleased about the title his name gets. No child of Obito's should be calling him 'sama'.

"Yes, Hiri-chan?" Hiri flinches badly and Inu snarls under his mask, silently. No one should flinch that badly, especially not a child.

"W-what's Hokage?" Hiri squeezes his eyes tightly closed and Inu resists the urge to pull him into his arms.

Inu expects that Hiri is anticipating being hit for either asking a question or needed to ask a question about who, or what, Hokage is.

"Hokage is the leader of Konohagakure," Inu answers as he traces a finger over Hiri's jaw, tiny chakra probes on his fingers telling him about all the wounds Hiri has received to the face and head in his short life.

Hiri only nods. His shaking is becoming worse and Inu almost pinches himself as he remembers the thick, black, woollen cloak that he is wearing. He strips it off slowly and sets it between himself and Hiri. Hiri just looks at it blankly.

"You can wear it, Hiri-kun," Inu tries a different honorific for Hiri's name and sighs in relief when Hiri doesn't flinch, "It will warm you."

"Warm?" Hiri blinks at him and then his hand snakes out, quicker than Inu was expecting, and pulls the cloak to himself. He hauls it around his shoulders and Inu sees some light come into his eyes.

"Are you ready to go?" Inu asks. Hiri's sharingan eyes narrow and Inu feels the beginning of worry start to eat at the edges of his mind. The boy has had his sharingan active for a very long time given the average chakra stores of a child. Hiri should be passing out with chakra exhaustion soon.

It's not the way that Inu wants to get the child to Minato-sensei, but if it's the only way to do that without breaking Hiri's tiny, very new, and fragile trust in him, he will wait until the boy collapses.

He waits and Hiri just stares at him. It's beginning to become a little ridiculous, the amount of chakra that Hiri is showing just by keeping his sharingan active for so long. Inu wonders if he should ask the child more questions, but really wants Minato-sensei to be there when Hiri answers. Inu wants to know how Obito could have had a child when he died at the age of fifteen last year.

Though, as Inu takes a longer moment to study Hiri, he can't place an age on the boy. Hiri seems to be very small and Inu isn't sure that he is as young as he looks because of his malnutrition and comprehension level. The boy is startlingly well spoken.

"What are you?" Hiri's voice is stronger when he speaks this time and Inu is glad that he thought to give the cloak to the boy.

"I am ANBU." It's not unusual that children don't know what ANBU is, so it's a surprise when Hiri rears back, horror on his face.

"Don't hurt me! Please, I'll be good!" Hiri falls to the ground and curls up in a protective ball, his eyes tightly closed. Inu blinks and wonders what happened. "I promise, I promise, I'll be good." Hiri is repeating under his breath.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Hiri-kun," Inu wants to reach out and comfort Hiri, but knows that if he touches Hiri the boy will freak out even more than he already is. "Hiri-kun, please, look at me, okay?" It's probably the first time in his life that Inu has begged anyone for anything, other that begging Obito to not die. He thinks that maybe it's because this is Obito's son.

He repeats the sentence over and over while Hiri continues to mutter pleading platitudes under his breath. It feels like an eternity until he quiets and Inu isn't sure that the boy's silence is even a good thing, since the boy's eyes are as frightened as ever.

He wonders what meaning 'ANBU' holds to Hiri, knowing that it can't be a good one, but not knowing how to reassure him either. He can't say that ANBU are nice because they're assassins, the dirtiest shinobi, with hands so bloodied it's amazing that water and soap can still clean them. And he doesn't want to ask what's wrong just yet; he needs to get to Minato-sensei first. He doesn't want to ask the wrong thing and accidentally hurt Obito's son.

Hiri is breathing harshly around a tiny fist, but he is calming down. The sheer terror that was emanating from him a few moments ago is fading to his previous level of fear. When Inu considers that the fear the boy is showing is normal for him, he can feel his lips pull back into a snarl behind his mask.

Inu is ANBU. He's seen terrible things; he's done terrible things, and with his - with _Obito's_ - sharingan, he can remember a lot of those things with perfect clarity. And so, he can conjure up a lot of different scenarios about how Hiri could have acquired this fear. He tries to push back the invasive images, but doesn't quite succeed. He's way too experienced not to examine the possibilities, even against his will.

His body stills completely as his mind speeds through image after image, and the only reason he's not leaking killing intent is because he's not as angry as he is _scared_. It's a novel feeling and one he wishes wouldn't creep up on him so suddenly.

He's scared of what may have happened to Hiri during his short life. He's afraid that Hiri will never smile like Obito did, laugh like Obito used to; _enjoy life_ the way Obito had. The feeling isn't crippling - he is ANBU, and knows better than to be taken over completely by any emotion, ever - but it's there, in the back of his mind, even as he takes a deep breath and turns his full attention to Hiri once more.

"Hiri-kun, if I promise not to hurt you, would you come with me to see the Hokage?" he asks, with only the tiniest of quivers in his voice as he asks. He shouldn't have to ask. He shouldn't have to see _Obito's son _look at him as though he is expecting the worst of his nightmares to come to pass.

"I promise to be good. I'll be good. If I'm bad, you can punish me. I'll be good, so you won't have to." Hiri mumbles into his fist, onerously pushing himself into a seated position and bowing his head. He still looks terrified and Inu feels like tearing something apart at the boy's words. He doesn't know how to answer, because the tight feeling in his chest is almost suffocating him.

He nods finally, and then almost growls at Hiri's relieved look. He doesn't though. Instead he swallows the burn in his chest and tells Hiri that he'll need to carry him, so that they'll be able to get to the Hokage as soon as possible.

He picks the boy up, more carefully than he's picked up anything in his entire life, and feels Obito's eye spin in its socket when he realizes that he can feel the ridges of the boy's ribs with his fingers even through the rags. He manoeuvres the cloak to cover Hiri fully and starts to run, before he really does lose control.

All he can think of as he runs past the trees, sticking to the ground so he won't scare the shivering boy further, is that he's carried _backpacks_ heavier than this.

The Hokage's office is empty but for Minato when Inu finally climbs up the side of the Tower with his most precious burden. Hiri has been completely silent for the entire trip and if it weren't for the fear that Inu can still feel, he would have thought Hiri had passed out.

"Inu," Minato stands when he comes in the window and does a double take at the boy in his arms. "What's this?"

"Hokage-sama," Inu doesn't let Hiri go because he isn't sure how Hiri will react to a full grown man instead of a teenager, "This is Uchiha Hiri." Hiri shifts in his arms and Inu rubs his back gently, "I found Hiri-kun near where the chakra flare appeared."

"Uchiha," Minato mutters to himself and Inu finds himself stepping out of reach when the blond man reaches out to touch Hiri.

Both men stop at that. An ANBU stepping away from the Hokage is unprecedented. The act is even more stranger because Inu has known Minato Namikaze as his teacher and father figure for almost ten years.

"Sir," Inu wants to explain but knows that anything he says will sound unbelievable, "Please check Hiri-kun's chakra matrix. I... It's important." Minato knows Obito's chakra matrix almost as well as Inu does.

Minato gathers chakra into his hand and slowly reaches for Hiri again. Even after only being in Hiri's presence for a minute he knows that the child has been abused.

Inu feels the probe through the child's body and Minato gasps.

"Obito-kun?"

"Harry," Hiri whispers. Inu is just glad that the boy has the courage to speak, and correct, his name.

"Remove your mask," Minato commands Inu and Hatake Kakashi is there, clipping the porcelain mask to his belt. "You... We cannot assume that Hiri-kun is Obito's son," He tells Kakashi.

Kakashi nods, "I know, Minato-sensei," He feels Hiri squirm in his arms and he kneels to the floor. Hiri waits until Kakashi has let him go before inching around behind him. Kakashi is a little surprised when Hiri grabs his knees tightly and stares at Minato from behind him.

He's not sure if it's a sign of whatever little trust Hiri does have for him, or if he's simply seen as the lesser of two evils.

Hiri and Minato stare at each other for several seconds, before Minato slowly crouches down to Hiri's eye level. Kakashi can feel the boy's fist tighten in the clothing, more fear leaking out into the air. Minato, of course, feels it as well and Kakashi can imagine his teacher's expression even if he can't see it.

"Hiri-kun, my name is Namikaze Minato. It's very nice to meet you." the Hokage's voice is soft and soothing in the manner Kakashi has wanted to achieve since meeting Hiri. Hiri doesn't seem to calm down, though. He's pushing himself further behind Kakashi, bowing his head and looking out through his fringe.

A few moments pass before Hiri's tiny voice asks, "Are you H-Hokage?" his teeth aren't clattering as much, so the stutter is probably more because of anxiety than cold like before. Minato nods, his eyes flickering up to Kakashi's own for a moment, and Hiri tenses.

Minato continues, "I see you've met Kakashi. He used to be my student." Kakashi knows that the Hokage is trying to calm Hiri down by pointing out the connection between the two of them, but the boy looks confused. It takes Kakashi a few seconds to figure out why and then he looks downwards to explain.

"Inu is not my real name. My real name is Hatake Kakashi." He doesn't know how to speak to children, but he figures that there is no point explaining what a codename is to such a young child. He wouldn't understand the meaning of it anyway.

Hiri nods unsurely and pulls his hands from Kakashi's knees. He's pulling at the woollen cloak and looks miserable. It's painful to see for both teacher and student, but neither knows what to say to him.

"We need to take him to the hospital for a check-up," Minato murmurs quietly to Kakashi. He pitches his voice so it doesn't carry, and Kakashi doubts that Hiri can hear more than a slight mumbling. He doesn't react either way, instead staring out into the air with unfocused eyes.

Tiredness must be hitting him hard, Kakashi thinks. After having lived in the forest for however many days he's been there, with tension running high and hunger wracking his body, coming into the warmth like this must feel like a very abrupt change.

As fast as Kakashi is, Minato has him beat in the speed department, so when Hiri collapses suddenly, Minato is the one who catches him. The blond Hokage stands upright, cradling Hiri in his arms and he still has look of shock on his face.

"Minato-sensei?"

"Call Rin," Minato tells him, unconsciously rocking the boy back and forth like Kakashi has seen mothers do for their babies. "And Kakashi," Minato's eyes harden and he scowls, "Call for Karasu as well."

"Sir?" Kakashi isn't sure why Minato wants to talk to Karasu.

"He left you out there alone."

"I had Pakkun," Kakashi refutes, "I wasn't alone." He wants to remind Minato that Karasu wouldn't have left in the first place unless he'd been dismissed, but Minato is far too upset and angry at the moment to listen to him.

"I don't care." Minato snarls quietly, "He left you alone. Call him."

"Yes, Sir," Kakashi bows his head and even though he finds it hard to leave Obito's son, he knows that there is no one better in the village to be protecting the boy than the man who is holding him right now.

Kakashi jumps over the rooftops towards the ANBU HQ, not sure what he'll tell Karasu when he does find him. He's only collecting his subordinate so that their Hokage can yell at him, after all. It's unlike Minato-sensei to overreact like this, which tells Kakashi quite a lot about the blonde Hokage's current state of mind.

Not that he can blame him for that, seeing as he's still in shock himself. His mind feels drawn in several different directions at once and at the same time he also feels numb and kind of cold. He doesn't know what to think about this; how could Obito have a child? It doesn't make any sense, so he can only hope that Minato might know more about it.

He lands in front of the hospital briefly, grabbing a passing nurse. She jumps in fright and he knows that he's probably grabbed her too harshly in his hurry, but can't bring himself to care.

"Tell Shiranui Rin that she has a patient to attend to in the Hokage Tower," he barks out and the nurse nods quickly, looking like she'd be willing to do anything as long as he lets her go. He feels a brief flash of guilt and nods to her before jumping up to the next house's roof.

Within a minute he's at the entrance to ANBU Head Quarters, hidden under a tea house in one of the civilian sectors, ironically enough, knocking the entry code onto a seemingly bare wall. The door reveals itself and Kakashi nearly forgets to don his mask again before entering.

Not many people linger in the corridors of ANBU's first level, thankfully. The corridors are a maze designed to confuse outsiders, but Inu knows the exact path he needs to take to get to the mission room, which is where Karasu should have gone back to after having been dismissed.

Inu walks briskly into the room, noting Karasu's chakra matrix just before the mission desk and steps in to intercept him before the ninja who hands out missions can give him a scroll. They both look at him, but Karasu doesn't protest, instead stepping out of line gracefully.

Inu knows they're being observed even though there are no breaks in the room's routine. ANBU never stop observing things, especially not when the youngest ANBU in Konoha's history comes stalking into the mission room with urgency. They won't speak up, though. If their presence is required, they know they'll be summoned by the Hokage.

Inu explains shortly to Karasu that he's expected in the Hokage's office, but signals that the situation is not life-threatening and that it's not about a mission. He should explain more, but at the moment he is too anxious to get back himself to do so.

He hopes that Rin will have gotten to Minato-sensei by now, but doubts it, since it's only been a little less than five minutes since he left the office, and medics are almost always busy. She'd need to get a replacement for whatever patient she is working with before she could leave the hospital.

The trek back to the Tower is one of the longest minutes Kakashi has ever experienced. Even with Karasu following close behind him, Kakashi's mind is far too over worked at this point for him to be reassuring Karasu when his peer is silently asking questions.

Minato is sitting in his chair behind the desk when Kakashi comes back inside via the window, Karasu following closely. The Hokage has Hiri in his arms and Kakashi wants so badly to go to Hiri and hug him, draw him close breathe his unique, if familiar, smell in.

"Karasu." Minato growls softly so as not to disturb Hiri, "You left Inu in the forest alone."

Karasu doesn't move, "Yes, Sir." He makes no move to explain or shift blame, and he makes no apologies. ANBU do not do make apologies for their actions. If they have done something wrong, they will admit it and take the punishment due to them.

"Why?"

"I found nothing in my search. I reported such to Inu-san. I was dismissed." Kakashi finds it strange that Karasu hasn't reacted to Hiri, or that Minato is holding him. Hyuga don't generally like children, as a rule. Children are far too touchy and uncouth for the stuck up bastards.

"Did you use your Byakugan?" Minato frowns and Kakashi thinks that he's noticed the same thing the teenager has.

"I did."

Minato just stares at him. Then he stands, comes around his desk and hands Kakashi the child. Karasu doesn't react.

"What did I just do?" Minato asks the crow ANBU. Karasu cocks his head to the side curiously and Kakashi can imagine that he is frowning under his mask.

"You stood up and came to stand in front of me."

"You can't see the child then." Minato says. It's not a question.

Karasu looks between Minato and Kakashi, "There is no child." His voice is flat, but Kakashi knows that he is worried that two of the most powerful shinobi in Konoha have finally cracked.

Minato looks between Karasu and Hiri several times and Kakashi is thinking the same thing. How is it possible that Hiri is hiding himself? One, the boy is unconscious and two, why is it that Kakashi and Minato are not affected by the ability?

"Kai," Minato lets out a burst of dispelling chakra and looks at Karasu. The ANBU shakes his head to indicate that nothing has changed. "How interesting..." The Hokage trails off.

"Minato-sensei!" Rin barrels into the Hokage's office, the doors slamming into the walls with force. Her arms are overflowing with medical supplies, "Who's hurt? Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi tightens his hold on Hiri protectively and growls, "Shush! Hiri is asleep."

Rin blinks at him, "Hiri? Who's Hiri?"

"Karasu, you are dismissed," Minato waves the Hyuga away and the ANBU vanishes out the window. Minato goes to the doors and closes them softly. He turns to Rin and licks his lips. "Rin, how many people are in my office?" He asks her.

She shakes her head and raises and eyebrow, "Kakashi-kun and you, Minato-sensei." She huffs, "And neither of you are bleeding so why did one of the nurses say that I was needed here for a medical emergency?"

Kakashi is suddenly hit with an idea and he looks at Rin, "Close your eyes and sense. Who is here?"

Rolling her eyes before closing them, Rin sighs. "I can feel myself, obviously, Minato-sensei, yourself and..." She trails off and her face blanches, "Obito-kun?"

Kakashi and Minato share a brief glance. So it's not a genjutsu, then, if Hiri can still be sensed. But the fact that all three of them recognize Hiri's chakra almost cements the relationship between the boy and Obito. There is no way Hiri is not Obito's son.

Rin sees their mutual look and she blinks rapidly. Her face is still pale with shock and she can't seem to find the words to speak. Kakashi sees her throat work above the medic uniform's collar, probably trying to swallow the same kind of lump as he had when he realized the enormity of the situation in the forest.

"What is this, sensei?" Rin's voice is rough but steady when she finally composes herself. She's looking in Kakashi's direction, though, likely trying to pinpoint the third chakra presence.

Kakashi looks down at Hiri's unconscious mien and props the boy's head up to lie in the crook of his arm. It's awkward, because he's not sure how to hold such a young child properly, but he tries to copy the way Minato-sensei had held Hiri earlier.

He sees Rin follow the movement of his arms and asks, "What do you see, Rin?" He keeps his voice quiet, not wanting to disturb the boy in his arms. Rin looks confused and she grimaces, setting down her medical equipment on their sensei's desk.

"Nothing. You just moved your arms a little. It looks as though you're cupping something," she answers, staring intently at Hiri, but obviously sees nothing. She smiles a little, the tiniest quirk of her lips and adds, "But I can feel him; whoever it is." She looks up at Minato-sensei, pinching the bridge of her nose in a very familiar gesture. "What is this? He feels just like... But that's impossible-" Her voice rises a little at the end, tight with emotion and Hiri flinches in Kakashi's arms. His nose scrunches up as he squirms, and Kakashi strokes his shoulder carefully. Hiri flinches again, badly, and Kakashi growls inwardly.

Obito's son shouldn't be this scared. Not of them. It's... all wrong.

From the corner of his eye, Kakashi can see Minato's eyes narrow. They need to have Rin do the medical check-up, but how can she, if she can't see him?

Kakashi thinks the problem through and wonders how to work it. Minato was able to see Hiri when Kakashi had first brought him into the office but Karasu wasn't able to. Maybe Hiri needed to be awake as well as have a connection to the person for them to be able to see him.

With no other options leaping out at him, Kakashi gently strokes Hiri's cheek, "Hiri-kun?" He hates to wake the exhausted boy, but they really did need Rin to check him out.

Hiri mumbles into his shoulder and clutches at his chest plate but doesn't wake.

"Kakashi?" Rin asks, watching him.

Kakashi holds out a hand to her, "Gather enough chakra for a probe." She does so and he grasps her hand and directs it to the top of Hiri's head. Rin's face twists in disgust when she feels the greasy hair under her palm, but she releases the probe.

There isn't even a hitch in Hiri's breathing.

When Rin gasps, Kakashi let her hand go.

"Dear Gods," Her eyes fills with tears, "He looks just like Obito-kun."

"I don't know how long he's been alone, but I fed him a rations bar in the woods," Kakashi reports to her as Rin starts going through the medical supplies that were strewn over Minato's desk. "He can't weigh much more than eighteen pounds. He desperately needs more food because the skin over his ribs is tight enough to bruise. I originally thought he was around eighteen months, maybe two years, but given comprehension and speech ability, Hiri could be as old as five. I haven't checked, but I couldn't smell any blood from him."

Rin is practically bubbling with furious anger by the end of Kakashi's report. She is so angry that her hair is actually frizzing and there are uncontrolled bursts of sparks when her fingers flick at something a little too hard. Thankfully the anger isn't infused in her chakra signature, only her physical appearance, so Kakashi doesn't have to worry about Hiri waking up filled fearing for his life.

"Rin," Minato lays a hand on her shoulder and boosts her chakra with his own, calming her enough to stop the sparks, "We need to be very careful around Hiri; he has been badly abused."

"How... someone... can't think... Obito's!" Rin is spitting the words out incomprehensively but both men understand. They feel the same way, after all.

It takes several minutes for Rin to calm herself down, since she keeps looking back at Hiri whenever she has tempered her reaction, and becomes angry all over again. Kakashi is pleased that she reacts the way she does; it's very Rin-like, and since both he and Minato-sensei are keeping their calm, it's satisfying to see Rin's outward anger reflect their own.

"I need to set up a temporary examination table," she says tightly, glaring at the wall in front of her with narrowed eyes. She picks up a folded white piece of fabric from the desk, pinches the ends, and snaps it unfolded with an expert flick of her wrists.

Minato nods and promptly shoves down the neatly piled paperwork into one of the drawers attached to the desk. It's an uncharacteristic enough gesture from their sensei to make both Rin and Kakashi stop and stare.

Minato is one of the most perfectionist people Kakashi had ever met. He hadn't stopped glaring at Obito for several days straight when the Uchiha tripped over the reports their team was to turn in after an extended mission. There had hardly been any stains on the papers, but Minato had still made the chuunin rewrite them from scratch.

Kakashi looks at the blonde Hokage as Rin bustles about setting up her temporary work-station, for the first time noticing the tiny crease between the older man's eyebrows that belies his otherwise calm features. Kakashi feels a little bad that he hadn't noticed how upset his sensei truly was until now.

He doesn't think on it for long though, since his attention is drawn to the bundle in his arms. Hiri is squirming against his chest-plate, lips pulling downwards in a grimace of discomfort in his sleep. Kakashi wonders what Hiri sees in his dreams and has a feeling that whatever it is, it'll make him want to break things or people, possibly by using his chidori.

Rin lines up her medical supplies on the cloth-covered desk and indicates that he should place Hiri on the surface. Hiri is holding onto his sleeve with a tiny fist and Kakashi almost doesn't want to let go, but his rational side knows that Hiri needs to be examined as soon as possible.

He places the boy on his back, carefully putting his head down. He knows that Hiri's head has been hurt in the past, though he can't tell exactly how much, since he's not a medic. He wants to make sure he doesn't do anything to aggravate any possible head injuries he might have at the moment.

He lets Hiri's head go with a lingering touch to his hair, but only has the time to take one step back before Hiri's sharingan eyes snaps open.

"No!" Hiri lunges for Kakashi and Kakashi has to catch him before he falls to the ground, "No," Hiri repeats, grasping tight to Kakashi's armour. Kakashi is afraid to pry his fingers from the armour; he doesn't want to hurt Hiri. "No doctors, please, Inu-sama, please," Hiri begs, burying his face in Kakashi's neck.

Kakashi can feel the tiny breaths against his neck and he curls his arms around Hiri, "Shh, it's okay, Hiri. This is Rin-chan. She isn't a doctor, she's Iryou-nin." Hiri refuses to lift his head to look and Rin and Kakashi looks up to Minato with a helpless expression. He doesn't know why Hiri is trusting him to protect him when just earlier he was scared that Kakashi would hurt him.

Minato has a small smile on his face, but it looks pained. "Hiri-ch-" He stops at Kakashi's panicked look and corrects himself, "Hiri-kun; no one here will hurt you. I swear."

Hiri mumbles into Kakashi's neck and Kakashi strokes his back gently, his fingers rippling over Hiri's ribs. "Hiri-kun," Kakashi murmurs into his ear, "I swear, as ANBU; on my life, that Rin will not hurt you. She will not cause you any pain. If she needs to heal something and it will hurt, she will stop and tell you and me and you may tell me if you want her to continue." Kakashi rests his cheek on the top of Hiri's head and feels Hiri nuzzling his neck.

"Swear? As ANBU?" Hiri whispers shakily and Kakashi nods. Hiri finally lets go of his armour and Kakashi sets him back on the desk. Rin is standing to the side and she isn't showing an ounce of the hate and anger she has boiling under her skin. Kakashi knows the hate she feels because he also harbours the same hate for whoever did this to Obito's son.

"Hiri-kun?" Rin doesn't step forward, "I am Shiranui Rin. I am Kakashi-kun's team mate." Hiri glances to her then looks back to Kakashi steadfastly.

"Hiri-kun?" Kakashi asks him, "Can she come closer?" Hiri blanches and Kakashi rubs his arms gently, "She won't touch you, she just wants to scan you, okay? Can she do that?"

"Okay," Kakashi can barely hear Hiri even with his exceptional hearing and he nods for Rin to come closer.

"Just a chakra scan, okay, Hiri?"

"Yeah. Okay." Hiri grabs one of his hands when he draws away and Kakashi bites his lip, but lets the boy hold his hand. Kakashi has never had someone hold his hand for comfort. He's also never held anyone's hand for his own comfort. He glances at Minato out of the corner of his eye. Minato is fingering his kunai holster with intent and Kakashi can't find it in himself to find that amusing, given the circumstances.

Hiri's hand spasms around his own when Rin approaches, and the boy starts leaning as far away from her as he can without bowling over. Rin's eyes darts towards Minato, who is still fingering his holster, and after a brief glance at the terrified boy, the Hokage's jaw clenches and he nods.

Kakashi knows that his sensei would like nothing more than for Hiri not to have to go through this just yet, but they need to do the scan immediately. Hiri might have injuries that need emergency treatment, and even if it would be a momentary mercy for the boy not to have to go through this right now, it's possible that that mercy will hurt him later.

Rin puts a hand out and rests it an inch above Hiri's shoulder and the boy all but throws himself forward. Kakashi's body is in the way, though, so he only manages to thump his head into the chest-plate. It could have been a comical moment if not for the absolute terror rising from the small body.

Rin looks devastated, and Kakashi understands why. Having Obito's son throw himself away from her like that must be unbearably painful to the usually warm girl. Kakashi places his hands on Hiri's shoulders, again reassuring him that he won't be hurt and that he can tell Rin to stop whenever he wants.

The second time Rin reaches out she lays only the tips of her fingers against Hiri's shoulder blade. The boy tenses and burrows his head into Kakashi's stomach, breathing heavily without tears, and Kakashi doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing. He thinks that children were supposed to cry when they're afraid, but maybe Hiri never learnt how to.

He feels Rin begin the scan, and watches with climbing anger as her eyes turn darker and darker the longer the scan progresses. He sees Minato shift in the corner of his eye and notes distractedly that the crease between his brows has become deeper as he reads the list the scanning jutsu is creating.

Rin's lips are pursed and her free hand is clenching around the corner of the desk, causing cracks to spread like a spider web from the soon-to-be-crushed wood.

The noise of the crunching wood startles Hiri into looking and the two tomoe of his sharingan are swirling around his pupils again. Rin controls herself and smiles apologetically at Hiri. Hiri flinches from her smile but there is something that he seems to see in her that calms him slightly.

Hiri leans away from Kakashi and reaches a hand out towards Rin cautiously. She doesn't move and Hiri is suddenly petting her frizzy brown hair that is coming out of her pony tail softly. "Pretty..." Hiri murmurs. His eyes are glued to Rin's hair and Kakashi takes a step back. Hiri doesn't react.

Kakashi keeps an eye on Hiri and Rin as he inches his way towards his sensei. "Minato-sensei," He asks in a low pitched voice, "What's on the list?"

Minato hands the list to Kakashi and he rolls the scroll open. Kakashi is shocked. He's never seen a list this long before unless it was for a senior shinobi. Even his father's list hadn't been this long.

"Minato-sensei," Rin gets their attention and both men look up to see that Hiri has finally deactivated his sharingan.

His eyes are a startlingly brilliant emerald green. It's a colour that none have them have ever seen before on a person.

"I'm tired," Hiri's murmur breaks the silence as his body abruptly starts to waver. Rin catches him as he falls sideways and lays him gently on the desk. Hiri curls up around her hands and Kakashi is startled at how quickly they boy has come to trust her. Hiri's eyes flutter and within seconds he is deeply asleep.

Rin settles his head gently on a folded bundle of clean bandages and pets his shoulder before coming over to review the list with them.

There is everything on the list from cracked and broken bones to deep tissue bruising. There is blunt force trauma, sharp force trauma and a scar that looks like a lightning bolt, purposely cut into his forehead. Hiri has over one hundred scars. There is malnutrition. One of the worst things on the list are the scars that indicate rape.

Rin curses under her breath and points out his statistics at the top of the page.

Hiri is three years, two months old. He weighs seventeen and a half pounds. He has a mild fever of thirty-seven point five degrees Celsius and the only thing in his stomach is the rations bar that Kakashi had given him.

"I will kill them all." Kakashi's words are said in complete monotone. He has no emotions left but anger and hate and rage.

Minato doesn't speak against the declaration, which is unusual for him. Usually he would have scolded Kakashi with lines about how 'shinobi don't pursue personal vendettas', but this time, he says nothing.

Rin is keeping her silence as well, but her silence is one of absolute mind-numbing anger. She's clenching and unclenching her hands and sparks are starting to fly from her fists again. Her eyes are locked onto the damning list, cursing every deity she knows as she tries to control herself.

None of the three say anything for several very long minutes. The pressing silence is only broken by their breaths and the occasional noisy spark. Kakashi looks at Hiri, sleeping in a tight ball on the desk. Even in his sleep, the boy looks afraid. His eyes are squeezed shut and his body is coiled as if preparing for flight at a moment's notice.

With perfectly measured steps which his fury lends grace to, Kakashi walks around the desk and stands in front of the sleeping form. He reaches out a gloved hand and pushes the dark bangs away from the boy's forehead.

The scar really does look like a lightning bolt and Kakashi starts to tremble with repressed killing intent. It hurts to keep it inside, but he does it anyway, because he will not do anything that could break Hiri's trust in him. He will not do anything to make Obito's son fear him.

"I swear to you, I will not let them hurt you again. _Ever_." Kakashi leans forward to whisper in Hiri's ear and the words echo in his mind like a promise. It's more than a promise, Kakashi thinks. It's a vow to Obito's legacy. A binding vow to chain him to Hiri, and to one day possibly absolve him from some of his guilt.

Those who don't take care of their own are worse trash, and Kakashi won't make that mistake again. He won't allow Hiri to disappear from his life like Obito did. He will not fail again.

The solemnity of the moment fades, though the anger remains. Minato and Rin are watching him, and when they notice his shift in attention, they nod. He isn't the only one making promises today.

*****xxXXxx*****


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Two: _Minato_

**Author:** wife-chan

**Rating:** Mature

**Warnings:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment/disturbing themes.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Author Notes:** Co-written by the two authors who make up wife-chan.

We appreciated your reviews for the last chapter very much. They're a great motivation, so keep it up! A lot of people asked us similar questions, and know that they _will_ be answered in time. Please wait patiently :)

This chapter is very angsty and has some descriptions of **child rape** and **horrific scarring**. It will probably disturb some people. There is a reason the rating is Mature, so consider yourselves warned.

*****xxXXxx*****

Namikaze Minato was stunned when his student brought the child into his office. He was further surprised when child manages to hide himself from practically anyone. He is finally shocked by the information that his other student's scans reveal about the child and finally, he's horrified when they read his statistics and takes stock of his past and present injuries.

He is disgusted that something like this could happen. And he knows that no matter how much they can't be sure that this child, Hiri, is Obito-kun's son, he can't shake the thought from his head.

"Rin-chan, is he safe to move?" Minato takes command of the situation quickly. After hearing Kakashi promise vengeance for the boy he knows that he is the only one in the office still thinking clearly enough to make decisions.

Rin scans the scroll with a deep scowl on her face and tears in her eyes and she finally nods. "Yes, Minato-sensei." She reaches up and wipes furiously at her tears, "He isn't in any immediate danger. He needs to eat as soon as he wakes up, though."

"I understand." Minato gestures for Kakashi to pick Hiri up. He opens the doors to his office and stalks out, Kakashi immediately after him, followed by Rin. His secretary scurries to catch up.

"Hokage-sama," He tries to say and Minato stops him with a downward slash of his hand. He can't remember ever being so short with his people before, but he has to relieve some of his stress before he Hiraishin's to Iwagakure to kill a couple hundred shinobi just to vent.

"Clean my office. I won't be back today. Tell the Military Police to keep a close eye on the village for the next week. If there are any odd occurrences, I want to be informed immediately."

"Sir," The secretary is struggling to keep up with Minato and his team and Minato makes a mental note to not allow the Council of Elders to insist on a civilian working in his office again just to appease the general civilian population in Konoha. He decides that when he next gets back to his office he'll be positioning an ANBU to be his secretary.

"I do not have time for this," Minato stops and spins on his heel. He glares at the frightened civilian and growls, "Nara Shikaku is on my advisory. If you don't understand what I am saying, ask him. He and Yamanaka Inoichi can run the village for two days. I swear to the gods, that if I get one more-"

"Minato-sensei," Rin's voice cuts through his rising voice in a curtailed reprimand and the Hokage closes his eyes and breathes deeply. He cannot allow his anger to overrule his thought processes.

"I have an important matter to look after, Mitsukushi-san," Minato glances to Hiri and then back to the civilian, "My team is in the middle of a crises and I will not allow Obi-" He cuts himself off. Breathes deeply again. "I will not allow this child to go untreated. Teams are a family in Konoha. And this family never expected an additional member from our teammate."

With that Minato spins again and stalks from the Hokage Tower towards his house. Kakashi and Rin follow.

The Hokage's house isn't far from the Tower. Minato would have slammed the doors open when they arrived, but he doesn't want to wake Hiri.

"Second floor-," Minato starts to say to his students, but they've already made their way to the guest bedroom. He shakes his head and wondered why he even bothered to try and tell them where to go. They've been over to his house so many times that he may as well adopt them.

Except that Rin's parents are still live and Kakashi is far too independent to want a father. His gray-haired students also has so many father issues they are practically coming out of his ears.

Minato debates the wisdom of going to Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Seijun with himself. Fugaku is the leader of the Uchiha clan, the clan that Hiri now belongs to through his father Obito, and Seijun is Obito's father. He should at least tell them that Obito had a legacy.

They may not believe him. Minato encourages himself with the knowledge that at least Seijun will know Obito's chakra matrix enough to see Hiri with a probe.

Thinking of Seijun makes Minato think of Jiyuuri. He wonders how Obito's mother will take to being a grandmother.

"Sensei!" Rin calls him from upstairs and in a literal flash Minato is grasping the door frame around the guest bedroom door. "Oh," Rin blinks, startled, but then rolls her eyes, "You are so lazy. You put seals in every room of your house, didn't you?"

The side of Minato's mouth quirks and almost forms a smile before he remembers that she had sounded a little panicked when she had called him, "What's wrong, Rin-chan?"

"Hiri's fever is rising," Rin tells him with a frown on her face, "I need to go to the hospital to get child-friendly medicine. I was expecting an adult with injuries, not a child."

"Go," Minato says, "I'll watch Hiri-kun."

"Sensei," Rin pulls him outside of the room and lowers her voice, "Kakashi..." She trails off and bites her lip, "Something isn't right. He's acting strange, even for him."

"What do you mean?" Minato knows that Kakashi still believes that Obito's death was his fault. He worries that Kakashi will break because of Hiri's terrible circumstances.

"He-, well." Rin sighs and steels herself, "Hiri-kun grabbed his hand in his sleep and Kakashi won't let go now. He just keeps looking at Hiri like the boy has all the answers in the world. It isn't right." Rin shakes her head, "If Hiri-kun wakes up and Kakashi keeps acting like this around him..."

"Hiri-kun will feel like he needs to either get away from Kakashi, or be overwhelmed with the need to provide anything he can for Kakashi."

Rin nods, "Yes. Hiri-kun will either run or he'll try to be everything Kakashi needs and given Hiri-kun's past, I believe that he will try to offer sex to Kakashi. That will absolutely break him."

Minato feels horror fill his heart and he forces himself to focus on Rin, "I'll talk to Kakashi."

"Okay, Sensei. I shouldn't be long." Rin hesitates and then hugs him tightly before vanishing down the stairs and out the door.

Minato rubs his breastbone where Rin had laid her head and contemplates her action for a moment.

It's been a long time since the fifteen year old has hugged him. She was insisting only the day before when he had hugged her that she was too old for the Hokage to hugging her so familiarly. He supposes that circumstances have brought forth her younger instincts, and knows that humans can't live without contact with one another.

Kakashi is sitting on the floor by the bed that Hiri is laying in, petting the hand that is grabbing his. Minato's eyes darken and he doesn't want to tell Kakashi to let go of Hiri. Hiri is family.

"Kakashi," Minato whispers and the teenager looks up at him. Minato can see tears in his usually steely grey eye. "Are you alright?"

"Better than Hiri-kun," Kakashi mutters under his breath.

Minato scowls even though he isn't angry at his student, "Kakashi, this isn't your fault."

"I know," Kakashi blinks slowly, "I- I don't know why, but I am _furious_ with Obito." He sounds confused and his voice is wavering like he is about to cry. Minato takes a few steps into the room and sits next to Kakashi, "I know that Obito has nothing to do with this. I don't think Obito ever knew that he had a kid- I mean, if he'd known, he would have said something, right, Sensei? Obito was always telling us about his family and if he'd known that he'd had a child then he would have said something-"

"Oh, Kakashi," Minato pulls the boy into a hug, allowing him to cry silently into his shoulder, "Shh."

Kakashi's tears don't last long and soon enough the teenager is pulling away from Minato, scrubbing at his eye with his free hand, "Sorry, Sensei," He mutters.

"It's okay, Kakashi," Minato rubs his shoulder. He still has to talk to Kakashi about Hiri and it's almost killing him that he has to be the one to help destroy Kakashi's very small faith in the human race. Whatever faith Obito managed to raise in Kakashi is soon to be dashed by his son. It isn't fair.

"Minato-sensei?" Kakashi can tell that there is something wrong and Minato shakes his head.

"Kakashi," Minato bites his lip and tries to think of a way to tell Kakashi that he is not acting in Hiri's best interests. "Remember the mission you were on six months ago?"

"My first mission back from training with the Uchiha?" Kakashi questions and Minato nods.

"Yes. Do remember that little girl, the six year old?" The mission that Kakashi had been sent on had been had been a raid of the child prostitution ring. The six year old girl had been one of the victims. Rape survivors are survivors, but Sayu hadn't survived; she'd killed herself two months later.

Kakashi's lips turn down in a scowl under his mask, but Minato can see it anyway, "Why are you bringing this up now, Sensei?" It was probably the hardest mission that Minato has ever sent Kakashi on. He hadn't even meant to send Kakashi on it, but there had been no one else available at the time but for the teenager who had just come back from his hiatus from ANBU.

"Hiri-kun may react like Sayu-chan did."

"No." Kakashi glares at Minato, "No. I won't allow it. Hiri isn't going to do that. He wouldn't."

Sayu had also tried to get Kakashi to have sex with her because he had been nice to her. She had been trying to thank him and didn't know how to, other than to offer sex.

Minato bows his head, "He might." It's a possibility that they have to be aware of. Kakashi shakes his head and Minato puts his arm around Kakashi's shoulders, "We'll help him, Kakashi. You know we will."

"Okay," Kakashi rubs his eyes once more and yawns. He blinks and looks up to Minato, "Why am I tired?"

"You've had a very hard day today, Kakashi," Minato smiles down at his student and heaves himself to his feet, "I'll get an extra futon and we can set it up in here; then you can sleep. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah," Kakashi yawned again, "Okay." Minato figures that Kakashi wants to stay in the room with Hiri to make sure that the child is protected. It wasn't that his student didn't trust him, but he needed to personally be the one to watch over Hiri.

"And take off the armour Kakashi, you don't need it here."

Kakashi nods slowly, looking like he's trying to be alert and failing badly. Minato can understand the reason why very well; he knows his student and in all the years he has known Kakashi, he has seen his student cry only once – at Obito's death.

Finding Obito's son, and then discovering the atrocious acts committed towards him must have brought up so many harsh emotions in the boy that he didn't know what to do with himself. Being raised as a genius didn't lend itself to understanding one's own emotions, instead compelling you to neglect and lock them away – something Kakashi had always been frighteningly proficient at.

Minato stands in the doorway, watching Kakashi unfold Minato's spare futon next to Hiri's. Kakashi is throwing furtive glances to his right every few seconds, and Minato can't help but frown. He knows that Kakashi is only trying his best, and that he did understand Minato's words earlier, but he is also a fourteen year old with survivor's guilt and low self-emotional intelligence.

Kakashi might not know how to thread the fine line between 'protective and attentive' and 'over-protective and smothering' since nobody ever taught him anything but self-reliance until he became Minato's student.

Minato supposes that, at least for the moment, there isn't much he can do about it. They'll have to take things one step at a time, and he'll have to monitor Kakashi's and Hiri's relationship to make sure it won't inadvertently take a more destructive turn.

He walks down the stairs for once, instead of just flashing down to the first floor. The short walk down helps him clear his mind and he wonders if he can take a few minutes to run through his katas and leave Rin in charge for the moment. Performing the repetitive taijutsu stances always made his head feel clearer, and he knows he'll need that clear-headedness in the coming few days. It's not like there will be much for Rin to do anyway, what with both Hiri and Kakashi asleep.

Minato absently wipes down the table and the sink, the slow motions as familiar to him as the feel of the stylized leaf of his headband. It isn't well-known, but Minato has always had a habit of cleaning things when feeling stressed out. Unfamiliar people who visited his home usually asked him if he had hired help, since it apparently was unthinkable that he would actually be the one to clean his house himself.

Rin had said it 'went against his image'. Kakashi had just stared at him with that completely blank stare that managed to convey both a question as to the whereabouts of his mind and whether he was actually as stupid as he looked. Minato had never figured out if the grey haired boy meant for the look to be interpreted as such, or if he just had an overactive imagination.

Obito... Obito had said his mother did something similar, though he had been sure to add, grinning cheekily, that his mother was never so neurotic about it.

Minato ends his reminiscing when Rin comes back in, carrying several small bottles with medicine. She stops when she sees the near-shining table surface, but only nods quietly. Minato looks as calm as he ever does and his hands are steady, but that doesn't mean he isn't affected by today's happenings. Rin knows that.

She places the bottles on the surface and leans her elbows on the table. Her brown hair is still frizzy, and her medic's uniform is crumpled. She looks tired and Minato scolds himself for not asking about how she was fairing before she headed back to the hospital. She shouldn't have had to be the one to get the medicine – he wasn't a medic, but even he knows how get a hold of fever-reducers.

Hopefully, there wouldn't be too many rumours circulating in the hospital. He knows that Rin being called to the Hokage's Tower will probably generate some gossip, and that her brief return coupled with her stricken appearance would surely fuel it, but he isn't sure how much that should worry him.

Nosy civilians would be a bother, but nosy shinobi would be ten times worse.

Rin comments on his grimace, and Minato tells her about his concerns. Her lips twitch a bit when he mentions the dreaded shinobi-grapevine and how in a few days time, everybody would know that something happened and the council would call him and...

He continues in that vein for a while, sighing over the snooty council body and the clan heads. Rin's eyes lighten just the tiniest bit, and Minato is glad. His bubbly and temperamental female student shouldn't look like she has suddenly gained ten years of world-weariness and layers of hatred.

He hopes Kakashi won't darken further than he already has, though he doubts that hope. They haven't asked Hiri-kun anything yet, but Minato doesn't think that any answers he'll give will be anywhere near pleasant.

He and Rin spend the better part of the hour in silence, and when Rin finally looks up from where she has been staring at the sterile medical bottle, Minato turns to her attentively. She looks vaguely unhappy and holds up the bottle in her hand.

"Sensei, if I don't give Hiri-kun the medicine as soon as possible, his fever will progressively get worse." She throws an eye towards the stairs with her lips drawn into frown. Minato knows that she doesn't want to wake Hiri up just yet, but that her medic's education is warring with her personal wishes.

"Go on," Minato tells her and she gives him one last look before hurrying up the stairs. He looks down at the table that she had been leaning against and absently grabs the rag that he was cleaning with and wipes the elbow marks away.

He continues to wipe the table as he thinks about Hiri, Kakashi and Rin. He knows that Rin can control her emotions better than Kakashi can. She's seen things at the hospital that have hardened her to life, just like he's seen things during his run as a shinobi. Kakashi has seen things as well, but up until Obito died, Kakashi had been stone cold. It's only been a year that Kakashi has allowed his emotions to affect him and Minato doesn't think he isn't ready for something this heavily steeped in emotional upheaval.

Realising that he can't leave Rin alone to deal with Kakashi and Hiri, Minato folds and hangs the cloth over the tap in the sink and goes upstairs. He finds Rin standing just inside the door of Hiri's room.

"Rin-chan?"

"Ano, Sensei," Rin hesitates, "I don't want to wake him up."

"He likes you," Minato places a hand on her shoulder, "You saw that in my office. He was enthralled with your hair." He gives the girl a tiny smile and Rin tries to smile back. She doesn't quite make it.

She leans against him for a moment then straightens up and heads towards Hiri.

Kakashi is tired, but he still wakes up once Rin is within five feet of Hiri and rolls onto his side, weapons in hand.

"What are you doing?" He growls and Minato pins him with a look. Kakashi ignores him.

"I have medicine for Hiri-kun," Rin says and holds up the bottles that she has. Kakashi watches her as though she were an enemy, but lets her get closer to Hiri.

Rin reaches out to touch Hiri's shoulder and says his name calmly. Before her fingers touch him, he rolls away from her, his gem-like green eyes wide and staring at her.

"Hiri-kun," She kneels by the futon and draws her hand back, "I have some medicine to make you feel better."

"Better?" Hiri croaks out. His throat is obviously dry and Minato wants to go and get a glass of water for him. He can't leave yet though, because he wants to watch over Hiri.

"Yes. You have a fever. This will help make it go away." Rin holds out a small bottle and Hiri stares at it. His eyes stray from the bottle to Rin's hair and he cocks his head to the side.

"Pretty," He repeats what he said in Minato's office and Minato covers his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. The child is very cute.

Rin smiles at Hiri and reaches up slowly to free her hair from her hair tie. It bounces lose and falls around her face and Hiri is entranced.

Minato watches Kakashi watch Hiri as the child reaches out slowly and grabs a lock of Rin's hair in his fist. Rin grins and Hiri's lips start to curve into something resembling a smile. Hiri scoots towards Rin and stuffs the lock of hair in his fist into his mouth.

Rin laughs.

Minato sees Kakashi watch the two. He's lowered his kunai, and his one open eye looks a little wide. Meanwhile, Rin is uncorking the bottle, Hiri's fist still clenching a lock of her hair. She looks up from the bottle with a small smile still on her face. Hiri's smile, on the other hand, drops and he looks a little nervous.

He, with the grace Kami-sama gave toddlers, carefully untangles his fingers from Rin's hair and clasps his hands together. It looks strangely adult for such a small child, but Minato doesn't ponder it. Out of the corner of his eye he can see that Kakashi is frowning. The grey-haired teen's body-language signals hesitation, and Minato can tell he wants to help, but doesn't know how.

Rin has dropped her smile as well, though she's projecting calmness. She fidgets the tiniest bit and throws a glance behind her back, to meet Minato's eyes. He takes a few steps forward to reassure her of his presence, but doesn't say anything. Hiri peeks at him through his fringe, looking more anxious, so Minato stays where he is, trying to look nonthreatening.

Minato doesn't know why he makes Hiri anxious, but it seems that when he smiles, Hiri's fear spikes even if the boy doesn't show any physical indications.

"Okay, Hiri-kun," Rin draws the boy's attention back to her and Hiri takes his time in looking at the girl. Kakashi's hesitation fades and Minato sighs while Rin continues, "This doesn't taste bad, it's very sweet." She holds out the open bottle and Hiri looks between it and her.

"Sweet?" Hiri asks and Rin nods. "Like lollies?" Hiri says and Minato clamps down on his anger. He isn't sure what kind of 'lollies' Hiri's been having, but he doesn't look like he's had a piece of candy before in his life.

Kakashi looks to be as furious as Minato, though only a shinobi would be able to see it.

This is going to be very difficult if Kakashi is taking his cues from Hiri.

Rin hides a pained look and nods, "Yes," She says, "Like a lollipop."

Hiri takes the bottle from Rin and looks at it curiously before shrugging to himself and gulping it down. His face warps into a surprised look and he gasps, "Sweet!" He licks his lips and then licks the top of the bottle, trying to get the left over liquid from the rim. He glances up to Rin and smiles, "Sweeter than lollies."

Minato closes his eyes in pain. He doesn't need to ask Hiri if he's been abused. That answer alone tells him everything he needs to know on that front.

Kakashi's mouth is working to make a sound when Minato opens his eyes, and when he can't get anything out he stalks from the room. Minato is fairly sure that he knows where Kakashi is going so he doesn't stop him. Kakashi only knows one coping mechanism so far, and that is to beat his emotions into submission.

At least he'll find someone at a training ground that he can spar with. Minato has a very good memory and he knows that several ANBU are scheduled to be training. As well as Kakashi's 'eternal rival', the green clad teenager with the nose that's been broken over a dozen times.

Minato remembers idly that Maito Gai used to specialize in genjutsu until the fourth time he was punched in the face by an Uchiha. Then he'd changed his specialty to Taijutsu to prove that he could defeat the carriers of a dōjutsu based kekkei genkai. At least the teenager still has his skills in genjutsu. He's going to need every advantage possible against Kakashi right now.

Minato doesn't want to ask Hiri any questions just yet, feeling like he needs time to digest his own anger and helplessness at the circumstances around his late student's legacy. So when Rin tucks Hiri in again, whispering some kind of children's lullaby to him, he steps back down the stairs to wait for his wayward student to return. Rin chooses to stay behind to watch over Hiri with soft and sad eyes.

Minato takes out a kettle from one of the cupboards over the sink and starts boiling Uji leaves to make green tea. The healthy tea is one of the most common drinks for both shinobi and civilians - one of the few things the two fractions of Konoha share - and Minato has made it for his students often enough that he's all but able to do it in his sleep.

****xXx****

When Kakashi returns, he seems marginally calmer. His uniform is dirty and ripped in some places, and visible eye is still filled with turmoil, but his body-language is composed and has lost a lot of its stiffness. Minato is glad; he knew that Kakashi needed a break from Hiri - as bad as that sounds - but wasn't sure of how to convince his student to leave the three year old, especially not after the way he'd reacted to Rin's proximity to Hiri.

Minato watches from the corner of his eye as Kakashi slumps down into a chair, rubbing his hands over his face and eye. He looks exhausted in a way that has nothing to do with lack of sleep. Even his head of silvery rooster hair seem to be drooping with weariness.

Minato approaches the table with two porcelain cups and Kakashi looks up only when one of the cups is put down in front of him. He doesn't really seem to be registering what is going on, despite the familiarity of it all. It takes him several minutes to start reaching for the cup, and when he finally pulls it to himself, he just stares down into the steaming liquid with unseeing eyes.

"I want to keep him," Kakashi says suddenly. He doesn't look up from his tea cup.

"Keep him?" Minato frowns then his face clears, "Hiri. You want to keep _Hiri_." He shakes his head, "Kakashi-kun, he isn't a puppy that followed you home. He's a child. And his grandparents are still alive, just like most of his family."

"The Uchihas," Kakashi practically spits the word out like a curse. There is loathing in the way he says the name.

"Kakashi," Minato reprimands him, "Seijun-san and Jiyuuri-san are good people." He knows Seijun is a strong jounin and Jiyuuri teaches at the academy. He assumes that they live in the compound with the rest of the Uchihas, but he's never seen them outside of official functions such as missions and Seijun has always been very open, for an Uchiha. Minato does know that Jiyuuri is best friends with a Nara though; Natari, Shikaku's older sister who refused clan leadership, he thinks, and it usually takes a lot of work to be a Nara's best friend. Especially because they don't typically do their share to keep the friendship going and it's left up to the other person to work at it.

"I don't care," Kakashi says with a scowl, "Hiri-kun is ours. We'll take better care of him then they will."

Minato presses a finger to his temple and rubs a little healing chakra in to help with his headache. "Kakashi," He finally says, "We have to tell the Uchihas that we found a member of their family. Hiri has activated his sharingan. He'll need training."

"I can do that," Kakashi insists and he leans forward, "You remember what Obito said about what the clan does with bastards. He said they _killed them_."

It is, unfortunately, not unusual for kekkei genkai clans to kill bastard children. They don't think a bastard of tainted blood would have the potential to grow strong enough to defend themselves and they certainly don't want anyone getting a hold of their bloodline through the bastard.

"We still need to tell them. I can promise you this, Kakashi," Minato sits up straight in his chair and his eyes harden, "I will not allow the Uchihas to kill Hiri."

Kakashi slumps a bit and he closes his visible eye. He doesn't say anything. There really isn't anything he can say at this point. He's thankful, and Minato knows it.

They sit at the table with their tea finished until Minato can't stand to see the empty tea cups sitting in front of him, so he stands up and takes the cups to the sink. Minato knows he's obsessive about things being in their correct place, but sometimes he can't help himself. He fills the sink with soapy water and washes the cups and teapot in silence. He dries them immediately and puts them away, keeping them perfectly aligned on the shelf that they are supposed to be on before emptying the sink of the water.

"Sensei?" Rin is suddenly standing at the bottom of the stairs and both men immediately give her their full attention, "Hiri is asleep. His fever is going down, thankfully." She moves over to Minato and takes his elbow, leading him to the table. "He was talking a bit in his sleep."

Kakashi is intent on every word that comes out of Rin's mouth, "What did he say?"

"He was promising to be good and asking not to be hurt." Rin looks pained and she rubs under her right eye with her finger, "I stroked his hair and he calmed down considerably."

"I see," Minato nods sharply, keeping his expression calm with difficulty.

Rin shakes her head, "Sensei, we have to know what happened to him."

"I know," Minato agrees with his student, but he knows that the only one who can say exactly what happened to Hiri is Hiri. "I don't want to speculate," He tells her and Kakashi, before he clears his throat, "I'm going to tell the council about Hiri. And Fugaku-san."

The Iryou-nin's face blanches and her eyes widen, "Sensei!" She exclaims, "You can't! Obito told us what they do to bastards!"

"Rin," Minato lowers his voice, putting a hand on her shoulder and calming her with his chakra, "I won't let anyone do anything to Hiri. I've promised that no more harm will come to him. Not while he is under our protection."

"Oh," Rin deflates and she nods, leaning into his grasp.

Minato doesn't know why his students are so trusting of him. He's only been Hokage for six months and they know that he isn't infallible. After all, Obito isn't here with them, finding he has a son. Minato doesn't think that he deserves their unwaveringly loyalty in the face of his failure to save Obito even though he knows, deep down, that it isn't his fault.

They sit in silence for over half an hour, taking comfort in each other's presences. Minato knows he shouldn't be leaning on his students, but Rin and Kakashi are the only ones who understand exactly how much Obito really meant to him, and what finding Hiri feels like.

Maybe that's why they trust him, Minato wonders, observing at his pensive students. They know that he'd do anything for his late student - for all his students - and that Hiri is too big a part of Obito for him to even consider leaving the boy for the Uchiha's to execute.

He doesn't know how this will play out, though. Even as Hokage he can't, regrettably, just bulldoze the Uchiha's and force his own decisions through. He can't afford to make them his enemies, at least not until his position as Hokage is more secure than it is now.

He knows Danzo has been sniffing around, trying to find some way to discredit him because he knows that Minato making mistakes so early into his career could easily end it. And if that happens, Hiri's life will be forfeit, no matter what he says about it. Well, unless Kakashi up and kidnaps the boy... Which doesn't sound too unlikely, Minato thinks as he watches his gray-haired student's frown.

Kakashi has already invested a lot - maybe too much - in Hiri, both as some kind of substitute for Obito and as a means for repentance. It could turn destructive for both Hiri and Kakashi if it continues, but Minato feels too tired to bring it up just yet. It's enough that both he and Rin are aware of it, so they'll know what to watch for.

After some time, hesitant footfalls can be heard coming down the stairs, and a sleep-ruffled Hiri steps into the kitchen. His eyes widen when he sees them watching him, and he tugs at his hair nervously. He's shooting Minato fearful glances from under his fringe and leans backward through the doorway, looking like he's one movement away from running back up the stairs.

Minato doesn't say anything; rather, he reclines in his chair, making his body languages as open and nonthreatening as he possibly can. It must be working at least subconsciously on Hiri, because the boy pauses and tilts his head to the side, looking as if he's listening to something. He seems a little confused at what he probably perceives as an abrupt change in atmosphere.

When Hiri gathers the courage to enter the kitchen, no one moves. Kakashi has forced himself into an open position, copying Minato, and Rin is smiling brilliantly at Hiri.

"Hello, Hiri-kun," Rin says and Minato glances at the clock on the wall. It's not quite five o'clock yet.

"Hello," Hiri's voice is quiet and he ducks his head.

They stay in their frozen positions until Hiri edges his way to Kakashi and stands beside him.

Kakashi looks shocked and Minato refuses to let himself smile. Hiri doesn't like Minato's smiles and even though it hurts him, he understands that Hiri has been abused by one, or more, adults and doesn't feel comfortable around him.

"Hiri-kun," Kakashi finally speaks, "Would you like to clean up?"

Minato flinches under his relaxed mask.

Hiri stiffens and he stares at Kakashi with wide eyes. "Inu-sama?" He manages to question Kakashi and Kakashi shakes his head.

"Call me Kakashi, Hiri-kun."

"Kakashi-sama," Hiri's holding his arms behind his back and he scruff a toe against the floor.

Hiri's large cotton shirt - what's left of it - is wide around his neck and the collar is falling over one thin shoulder. Minato curses himself for not getting clothing for the boy, instead he has been sitting at his table staring into space like an ill-prepared, genin wanna-be.

"I think you should have a bath." Minato then curses Kakashi's blunt words. He knows that his student can be subtle. He's seen it often before. Why Kakashi is acting like this is a mystery to him.

"B-bath?" Hiri's teeth are gnawing at his chapped lips and he shivers, "I... don't need a bath, Kakashi-sama."

"You're dirty, Hiri," Kakashi says to the boy and Hiri scoots back a step.

"I don't like the cold," Hiri mutters and Minato can't stop cursing in his head because pretty much everything that comes out of Hiri's mouth makes him want to kill someone.

The gray-haired genius frowns and Hiri's shoulders curve in as though to protect himself from Kakashi. It takes a moment and Minato can see the realization come over his student.

"The water won't be cold, Hiri-kun," Kakashi tells the child and there is a micro-expression flash of scorn on Hiri's face then it clears. "I promise."

"Okay." Hiri looks resigned now, and Minato's hand quivers as he tries to control his anger. He's sure that he'll get over it sooner or later, or at least learn to control it better, but right now everything is boiling just under the surface and he almost can't stand it.

Kakashi starts to stand and Rin kicks him in the thigh under the table, hiding the motion from Hiri.

"Come on, Hiri-kun, I'll start the water, okay?" She stands and holds out her hand to Hiri and he tentatively takes it in his own.

"Okay," He murmurs to Rin, and Minato is glad when he gets distracted by Rin's hair yet again so he doesn't see Kakashi's betrayed expression.

The Iryou-nin takes Hiri's hand and leads the child from the room and Kakashi rounds on Minato.

"Minato-sensei," He starts and Minato holds up a hand. Kakashi stops immediately.

Minato licks his lips and wonders how he can force Kakashi to see what he's doing when he's not being careful about how he speaks, without hurting the teenager. He decides quickly that Kakashi can do with a little hurt in his life as long as he stops scaring Hiri.

"Kakashi," Minato looks directly at his student, "Hiri was mostly likely forced to take baths in ice water when he 'misbehaved' or was dirty. Bastards like the ones that had Hiri wouldn't have wasted hot water on the boy. They wouldn't think him worth heating the water."

Kakashi is spitting mad and his killing intent is rising, but he's keeping it contained in the kitchen. "Those bastards," He hisses through clenched teeth.

"And I wouldn't be surprised to find out that more than one person has 'entertained' themselves with Hiri while they were having a bath. That's one of the reasons why Rin kicked you and took over. Hiri wouldn't be comfortable in a bathroom where he was naked and expected to bathe in warm water with another male. Do you understand?" Minato lowers his voice and reaches out over the table to take one of Kakashi's hands in his own.

"I-" Kakashi swallows painfully and nods, "I think so, Minato-sensei."

Minato rubs a hand over his face, feeling vaguely disgusted with his words. They seem to cling to the air around them, turning corporeal in the form of Kakashi's pained expression. Minato lets go of his student's hand, and Kakashi doesn't react.

"I'll go see if I can find some clothes for Hiri-kun," Minato says softly and stands up. Kakashi nods, but Minato can tell he's not really 'there' at the moment. The words are just going in one ear and out the other, which is quite unusual for the young genius. Kakashi's attention span and recollection are usually so good that he can repeat whole conversations back verbatim days after he's heard them.

Minato flashes up to the second floor, not wanting Hiri to hear him on the stairs when the boy already feels so vulnerable. He knows that he has some of his own old baby clothes tucked in a closet. They had been a gift from his late mother on her deathbed, with the instructions to "give them to his children", and he can't think of anything else he'd rather have Hiri wear. It'll be a testament to how much Hiri _will_ be loved, even if Minato will be the only one to know.

He retrieves the clothes from a dusty box in the top-most shelf in the closet. They're well-worn but intact, and with a feeling of safe familiarity to them that Minato tries to breathe in, hoping it'll calm him. He feels a little silly, but can't help but promise - with the blue baby shirt as his witness - that Hiri won't be hurt again. Obito's son will wear these clothes and learn to feel the same safety Minato used to feel.

He picks out a set of clothes for the boy, the baby blue shirt that has born witness to his promise and a pair of loose, black Capri pants along with a pair of black boxers. After hesitating he also grabs a dark green sweater that should be a size too big. Minato knows enough psychology to know that Hiri will want to be able to hide his body from view.

He folds them conscientiously, listening for the sound of water with one ear. He hears nothing and frowns. He had hoped Rin would be able to convince Hiri to bathe, but perhaps he was too uncomfortable even in her presence?

This time he walks down the hall, intentionally shuffling his steps. He wants to announce himself so that Hiri will know he's coming. It'll scare the boy, he's sure, but he knows it will scare him even more if Minato shows up out of the blue. Not that he's going to actually step into the bathroom, since that would negate what he told Kakashi, but he wants to make sure Hiri and Rin are both alright.

He knocks on the bathroom door carefully, calling out Rin's name in a calm voice.

"Yes, sensei?" Rin's voice is muffled and as carefully even as his own, and he can't help but worry. Rin's voice is never that empty of inflection.

"Are you okay, Rin?" _Is Hiri okay?_ He knows Rin will hear what he's really asking, especially since he's left out the '-chan' he usually tacks onto her name.

The hesitation hangs in the air, thickening it, and suddenly Minato can hear his heartbeat in his ears. It's been a while since he last was this worried, and in the back of his mind he finds it somewhat ironic that Obito's son would be the one to cause his heart to constrain like this, when the boy's father was the last one to do so.

He hears Rin talk to Hiri, but can't make out the words over the thunderous pounding in his chest. Only his long experience as shinobi allows him to calm himself enough so that when Rin steps out the door, he can look at her with a neutral expression. She's frowning heavily, and there is a pallor to her skin that makes his hands twitch in a series of quickly aborted movements.

She pushes the door closed, but allows a small opening to remain, which he assumes is to reassure Hiri that she hasn't left. He shifts so that he can't be seen at all from the opening and nods at Rin. She waves him back until both of them have their backs against the door.

"Sensei..." she begins, her voice tight and strained. He can't tell if it's from sadness or from anger, but tries to prepare himself for the worst. He needs to be the one she can lean on, no matter what, so he has to stay calm - or at least look the part.

"Sensei-," she starts again, swallowing thickly. Tears well up in her eyes, making them shine. Rin's eyes were always so expressive, and that was usually something he appreciated in his female student. In this moment though, he wishes that her eyes wouldn't look at him as though... as though Obito was dying all over again.

"He has so many scars," she chokes out, tears finally dripping down her face. She trembling and Minato feels like his heart is breaking and he doesn't know what to do, because if Rin - who is an experienced medic - considers Hiri's scars bad enough to cry over, then those scars must be very bad indeed.

He pulls her into his arms and she mumbles into his shirt about keloid and hypertrophic scarring and possible skin grafts, and Minato feels like he's having a heart attack. He doesn't know if he wants to see Hiri - which is a horrible thing to think - but he isn't sure he'll be able to keep his calm if he sees scarring so bad it may have damaged his late student's son's body enough for the boy to need skin grafts.

He doesn't have much time to ponder it before Hiri pokes his head out of the bathroom. He blanches when he sees Minato, but doesn't try to hide from him.

"Hokage-sama? Rin-sama?" He opens the door all the way and steps out of the bathroom and Rin hurriedly wipes the tears from her eyes. She pulls her medic's apron off and wraps it around Hiri, covering his naked body.

"I'm okay, Hiri-kun," She knees next to Hiri and tries to herd him back into the bathroom.

Minato is stunned. He'd heard Rin tell him about Hiri's scarring, but to see them on the boy was more than enough to make him sick to his stomach. He can see where something had burned Hiri's ribs and on his right arm there is a large scar, though it looks more like someone cut a chunk of Hiri's flesh out of his arm, and Minato has seen something like that before.

That's the mark of a large bore stake having been nailed through his arm.

Minato is pretty sure that wound is one of many reasons Hiri doesn't run from him, even though he's naked. If Hiri ran before, tried to escape wherever he was being held, it's possible that for punishment, Hiri could have been nailed to the floor.

Rin finally gets Hiri turned around and back to the bathroom and Minato flinches at the long, uneven scars on the boy's back. He recognizes several of those from a five-tailed, barb-tipped whip.

Minato's gorge raises and he flashes downstairs to the dining room where Kakashi still is. Minato pushes the clothing he has collected into Kakashi's hands and flings open the back door to the yard with a slam, breathing in fresh air deeply, clearing his lungs and trying to not throw up.

It's hard.

"Minato-sensei?" Kakashi is standing in the doorway with the clothing in hands as he watches Minato breathe and his face is completely blank. "What's wrong?"

"Did you see under Hiri's shirt?" Minato asks his genius student and Kakashi's hands twist in the material he is carrying.

"No." Kakashi's visible eye fills with burning anger, the kind of anger he had before coming back from his sparring earlier, and he whispers his question, "Is it that bad?"

Kakashi has seen comrades tortured. He's seen post-torture. He's even done a bit of torturing although Minato is trying to keep him out of the Torture and Interrogation Department.

"I recognized scars from instruments that have been made illegal by the binding agreements of conflict throughout the Hidden Countries." Minato mutters.

There isn't anything that Kakashi can say to that. He has his own scars - Minato thinks of the one covering Kakashi's left eye in particular - and he knows how painful it is for skin to be ripped and torn and spread apart. He doesn't need words for Minato to know that he's enraged and horrified and still feels guilty.

"So," Kakashi hesitates, "What do we do?" He's lost and Minato isn't much better.

"I don't know. We'll do whatever Rin needs so Hiri can heal as much as possible, physically." Minato takes one last large breath of air and goes back inside to the dining room. He moves to take the clothing back from Kakashi, who is reluctant to part with it.

"Minato-sensei," Kakashi's head is ducked low and Minato waits for his student to continue. "I'd like to- May I take the clothing upstairs?"

Knowing that Hiri is far more comfortable with Kakashi than he is with himself, Minato nods, "Of course. Go on, Kakashi."

Minato watches Kakashi go up the stairs not-silently and bites his lip. He wants to be closer to Hiri. He wants to be closer to Obito's legacy and he feels a bit like he's being left behind because Hiri has chosen to trust Rin and Kakashi first.

It's not true, but it feels that way anyway.

*****xxXXxx*****


	3. Chapter 3: Interlude

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Three: _Harry/Hiri Interlude_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** A short chapter due to the fact that this is an interlude :) Lots of answers to lots of questions are in here, we hope.

*****xxXXxx*****

Harry growled from his place in the deepest recesses of Hiri's mind. He was more than slightly annoyed, and wondered if Lady Luck didn't have any other people she could go and screw over, so he could get some well-earned peace and quiet.

Everything had just finally started to look up after years of what seemed like hell on earth, but maybe he had been foolish to put so much hope in something nobody had ever done before. He should have known better by now; in his life, nothing ever came without a price.

Near the end of the war, he had been captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, and been kept there for what seemed like an eternity, but in hindsight couldn't realistically have been more than a few months. He didn't really remember much of it clearly, especially the later months. He just remembered the pain. The never-ending, inescapable _agony_ the Death Eaters were so very adept at causing.

He had just barely escaped, and only because Voldemort had decided to keep him as his plaything before killing him off. In the end, that arrogance had been Voldemort's downfall. He'd expected Harry to just stay put after the first few times he'd tried to escape, because Voldemort had made sure that the torture sessions after his first few escape attempts had been worse than usual.

His friends had nursed him back to health, and somehow they seemed to have grown stronger in his absence, having trained and fought and bled so they would be strong enough to get him back. There had been a horrified, simmering anger in their eyes for the few months after he had returned; every time he flinched from a friendly touch, every time he woke up screaming from nightmares or had flashbacks... their eyes had _burned_ for him.

Harry smiled a little when he thought about it. His friends had been so very good to him, and he doubted he would be as sane as he was today if he hadn't had them to lean on during those hellish weeks of recovery.

When Harry was finally as patched up as he was ever going to get, they had started organizing and planning a raid. Voldemort hadn't moved from his base, probably thinking that Harry wouldn't remember how to get back. He was very wrong, because everything about that damn house was seared into his mind and retinas.

They took advantage of the Death Eaters one obvious weakness: muggles. The blood purists hadn't been prepared to fend off muggle weapons, muggle strategy or muggle warfare.

It hadn't taken too long to bring down the Manor, and about a third of the merry band of mass-murderers with it. The DA had helped defeat the Outer Circle members stationed outside the Manor, and Harry's friends had taken on the Inner Circle in the depths of the house.

The Final Battle had been tough, but somehow, they had prevailed anyway. Hermione had later commented that for all they were cursed by Lady Luck, they were also blessed by her.

It had taken a long time to unwind even a little from the war mentality though, and to get used to new handicaps. Ron had lost his left arm, Neville had lost an eye and Hermione had lost her hearing in one ear. There wasn't much fuss made over that, since everyone considered it small prices to pay for peace, and because there were so many magical aides for their losses anyway.

The years had gone by, dedicated to rebuilding their lives and strengthening England's magical community. Those years seemed almost suspended in time somehow; incorporeal and with a shimmer of almost hysterically giddy happiness to it.

And then one day, Harry had looked in the mirror - something he didn't do often, for various reasons - and realized that he still looked seventeen, despite being twenty-two. Ron had a few gray hairs due to stress and Hermione had already started developing wrinkles, but Harry looked_ exactly the same_. He didn't just look younger than his years, he hadn't changed at all.

In panic, he had run to Hermione to ask if she knew what was going on, and it hadn't taken long for her to figure out that his status as the Master of Death, wielder of the three Deathly Hallows, had somehow stopped his aging.

Harry had been very afraid. Living forever, with his precious friends passing on and leaving him behind, alone, had seemed like a punishment straight from hell.

Hermione, having worked as an Unspeakable for several years, had access to a lot of forbidden books and had unsurprisingly been the one to work out a possible solution.

Time travel. As the Master of Death, you had a lot of abilities in the vast realm of should-be-impossible, and time-travel was one of those.

Harry hadn't wanted to do it, at first. Being as there could only be one Master of Death, he would be the only one to travel, which meant that he'd be alone anyway, even earlier than if he'd stayed. He wouldn't be Harry either, because the ritual to go back in time was one that created a paradox when implemented, which meant he'd have be transferred into a new body that would be created so as to avoid copying his signature. This would allow the past-Harry to avoid the curse of immortality, because it would still be tacked onto his soul.

Harry had been totally against it, at least until he'd found something completely unexpected in one of his vaults. His family tree had a new, ink-black branch that stretched outside the frame, disappearing and reappearing on the back of the large wall-hanging. He'd turned it around, and found it ended in a single name: Obito.

The branch was the same color as the Elder wand, and Harry wasn't quite sure what to think of that until he realized that this meant he had some unknown family, somewhere. There were several smaller branches spreading from Obito's name upwards, and Harry's heart had stopped.

A family. The concept had always been so alien to him, and now it had slammed into his mind with the force of a hammer. He didn't know what the color of the branches meant, only that it must have something to do with his being the Master of Death. At that point, he couldn't have cared less.

So they had instigated the ritual, knowing that it would take all their lives, but also that it wouldn't matter once time reset itself. Harry had still felt guilty about it, though.

"Where will you go?" said Death and Harry had answered the only thing they had been able to connect Obito's name to; the Hidden Countries.

Death had gone as silent as only Death can and then done _something_, given him _something_ that resonated in his dead soul like chiming bells, and it was the same feeling he had gotten when he touched Obito's name on the family tree and suddenly his head was bursting with pain, memories best left forgotten pushing up into his surface thoughts and echoing in his mind as his soul descended back into a package that was too small for him.

He had heard a voice, younger than his own and seen a smiling face wearing orange goggles and missing an eye looking down on him, holding onto him, pushing things - language and writing and _chakra_ - into his already chaotic and broken mind. That smile was too old for such a young face and Harry would have wanted to say something, but he was ripping apart by the seams as past _Obliviate_'s were washed from his mind-

- _a golden haired man with a toothpaste smile and disgusting purple colored robes was touching him, hurting him, whispering loving things that hurt even more than being split apart from the inside_ -

-_ice water in the tub, he's outside and it's dark and Aunty doesn't want anyone to see him-_

_-a hard slap across the face and then he's falling by accident into the campfire and someone's crying and he's crawling and his legs are burning-_

_-wrinkles on his face and a white beard and it's for the best, Harry, that you don't remember...-_

- Crucio!_ and he was screaming, head bashing against the stone floor and eyes rolling in his head_-

When Harry woke up, he was in a forest. Maybe. Either that or in a very dark and chaotic place that reeked of fear and anger and horrible resignation. He recognized the place, of course, having lived with it his whole life; he was in his mind, somehow.

Harry first thought that his body was moving of its own volition, but when he swam to the very fore-front of whoever was controlling his body, he found a small boy looking back at him, seeming confused.

The boy looked like a mixture of himself and of the smiling face from before, and Harry nearly recoiled at his red eyes, before he suddenly knew that those red eyes were _sharingan_ eyes and a bloodline trait.

He was sure that knowledge hadn't belonged to him, and equally sure that the smiling teenager was the one to gift him with it. _Obito_, said his gut.

It didn't take Harry long to realize that the small boy in front of him was the one in control of his body, and that there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. His mind was an utter mess, overflowing with haphazardly placed memories that wrapped around both his and the boy's ethereal bodies. The blackness pulsed with negative feelings and Harry was surprised to find that his mind-body could apparently feel nauseous.

The boy faded to the very fore-front and Harry found himself being pushed back, deeper into the mess. He knew how to protect himself, though, so the memories didn't overwhelm him too badly. But he probably needed to sort them out before he could even begin to try and regain control. For now, he'd have no choice but to leave his tiny-self behind the metaphorical wheel.

He was thankful that he could still see through his much younger self's eyes, though. As the days passed, he found that the little one could hear him if he tried hard enough. He murmured to him to watch out for the poisonous mushrooms, to walk in the opposite direction of the bear tracks and to drink some water from a stream. He could only give advice though; his little alter was completely in control of everything, and so very, very, afraid.

Harry had been trying to keep memories away from his alter's conscious mind, but it only worked sometimes, and even then they were only pushed aside for the moment. He pushed some memories of Hermione's fond smile out to the alter to reassure him during the nights and prayed someone would find them soon. Their body was starving.

His prayer was answered in the most unlikely form - his mind screaming _Death Eater_ - and Obito's chaotic knowledge countered with - _ANBU_ - and before he knew it, the masked teenager was whisking them away to Konoha, somehow having realized out a connection between them and Obito.

There was a blond man in the office and Harry only managed to subdue the likeness to Lockhart after a moment but his alter - _Hiri_ - saw a glimpse of the golden haired man with the perfect smile leaning over, touching him and moved their body to stand behind the ANBU when Inu let him down.

This is Inu's Hokage.

It's too much, the eyes that Hiri has had active out of fear for so long and Harry was getting a headache so he pulled on the chakra strands he saw in front of him and Hiri collapsed back into their mind.

Harry was still awake though. When Hokage holds him, Harry allowed himself to 'taste' the man, feel his intentions and what he found, he liked. Harry watched through his magic as Hiri was passed to Inu/Kakashi and only because Hiri was sleeping in their mind, he managed to grab hold of the armor on the teenager and he refused to let go.

The language was still new to Harry but he can understand most of what's being said and he wanted to yell out that he's not Obito's son, that they don't have to treat him like a child but he couldn't.

A girl rushed into the room and then there's suddenly too much activity, causing Harry to lose his grasp on the chakra stands that he was still holding. Then Hiri woke up and the chakra brightened and Harry groaned.

God. Had he really been this dumb when he was little? Hiri activated the sharingan again and Harry screamed at his alter to stop using the red eyes because it _hurts_, it hurts to use this much of a new power and Harry was having trouble containing the hurt and keeping it from Hiri.

As Hermione once said, Harry has a Savior Complex; if he can stop someone from getting hurt, he'll do it. But Hiri must be punishing him for something, because the boy won't stop.

The pain must be leaking through now though, because Hiri let the sharingan go and then Harry could see clearly out of Hiri's eyes and the girl - Rin - has brown hair and he could see it frizzing.

Oh. Harry smiled when Hermione comes to mind, and Hiri calms down and Harry rolled his eyes. He should have thought of that before. He'd been using an image of Hermione to calm Hiri for several days, why hadn't he used it just now?

Because he's dumb, that's why. Harry laughed to himself.

All of this was tiring, so he let himself drift after making sure that Hermione's picture was at the forefront of his mind. His body has good people looking after it, even if they've made the wrong assumptions about him.

When he finally stops drifting, Hiri was already awake and watching Rin with fascination. Harry figured that he'd kept the mental image of Hermione up way too long because Hiri was chewing on Rin's hair.

Harry could hear a distant murmur, like rumbling waves, but the individual words are hard to make out. He did manage to make out the word 'sweet' though, and the very first thing that pops into his mind are the Blood flavored lollipops that Draco had started to irritate him with when everyone had realized that he wasn't aging. Like a vampire.

Stupid asshole had been amused by the prospect of Harry managing to accidentally do what everyone else tried to do on purpose.

Become immortal.

****xXx****

Hiri burrowed down into the mattress, feeling the others leave the room and the woman - Rin-sama - stay behind. She is stroking his hair and she murmured something that sounded very pleasant and made his head feel fuzzy. It's a song, Hiri thought, but he can't really make out the words, because his body felt so heavy, like he's falling downwards into the soft material he's lying on.

_Hiri was sleeping now and Harry sighed. Maybe it would be easier to talk to Hiri now. At the very least Harry would have more peace and quiet to sort through the 'new' memories that he's found. The memories that were hidden from him earlier in his life._

Disjointed images flashed behind his eyes and he hurt so bad, and maybe if he promised to be good, maybe it'll stop.

_Harry was trying to keep the nightmares from the boy but it wasn't working and he cursed, spitting mad at his helplessness. He didn't know why it wouldn't work, it just wouldn't._

There was a faint touch through his hair and someone was suddenly there with him.

_Occlumency seemed to be helping and Harry leaned down to whisper into Hiri's ear._

He didn't know who, and he couldn't see the person, but there was someone there. Someone was whispering in his ear and he could see a kaleidoscope of pictures, a soft and nice brunette woman and a tall red headed man, a larger blond man with plants, a tall thin man with white hair who seemed to be the same age as the others. A set of identical red heads were standing behind the figure Hiri couldn't see.

_Pictures of Harry's makeshift family were abundant and Hermione comes to mind first, with Ron. Neville following soon after. Draco last. Not that Draco is a part of his family really, but he had become a weird type of friend._

Then there was a dark haired man with glasses and blue eyes and a woman, in his arms. She had long red hair and brilliant green eyes and she was saying something and rocking a baby in her arms but he couldn't see the baby; he couldn't see the baby, just like he couldn't see the smoky figure.

_Harry wanted his alter to know their family. Harry guessed it wasn't a good sign for him to be considering himself and Hiri as two separate people instead of one, but he really couldn't see this scared little boy as himself, no matter how hard he tried. It must have been the hidden memories. When his memories were hidden from him__, Harry must have been able to fight back better._

But he was warm and loved and he never wanted that feeling to end.

_But maybe the reason Hiri was so very different from him was that Hiri was only a piece of him. Hiri had been fractured off of Harry and wasn't all there._

Hiri woke up a while later and noticed that he was alone. Rin-sama was gone, as well as Inu-sama and Hokage-sama. Or was it Hokage-'dono'? Hiri wasn't sure, he couldn't remember. All he knew was that Hokage-sama looked like someone who had smiled at him before. Or maybe Hokage didn't look like that man, maybe it was just the hair. Hiri was very confused and he could vaguely hear a strange language in his head, as though someone was talking to him.

_"Damn it, go back to sleep, Hiri," Harry shook his head. Hiri was already awake again. He'd only managed to get a few memories sorted. Everything was still such a jumble. Harry despaired; would he ever be able to achieve coherency and fully integrate with his alter? It was taking so long to sort through the memories._

Hiri shook his head to clear it and wandered over to the room's door. It was clean and fairly neat, if a little crowded, with two of those funny looking beds. He wondered why he was allowed to sleep in a bed, but shrugged and peeked out through the door-opening. There was no one in the hall.

_"Downstairs. Go downstairs," Harry tried. Maybe Hiri would be able to understand smaller sentences. He'd managed it before, in the forest. It wasn't impossible to get the boy to understand what he was saying; they both knew English after all. But Hiri didn't move and Harry shook his head. He painted a picture of the stairs in his mind and shoved it at his alter, hoping that it might yield better results._

Downstairs, Hiri thought suddenly and began making his way down the hall. Someone might be downstairs. Rin-sama, or Inu-sama. Rin-sama was nice.

_Namikaze Minato. Harry saw the man and his name popped up from the information the goggled boy had gifted him with. Obito had been rivals with the silver haired boy and been in love with the girl, with Rin. Harry's skills in judging the danger levels of situations and body lang__uage of the people involved were superb. Minato and Inu were safe to be around. Hiri didn't seem to trust him about Minato, though._

The blond man was the first one that Hiri saw and he stopped. He blinked at a sudden insistence that Hokage-sama wasn't going to hurt him. He hadn't really notice that Hokage-sama had shifted how he was sitting until it was right there, highlighted in his mind. Hiri bit his lip and went to Inu-sama. Inu-sama would protect him. He didn't _feel_ anything about Inu-sama, good or bad and Inu-sama hadn't hurt him yet.

_"Stupid," Harry muttered. But he couldn't _do_ anything. Hiri had too much control. It wasn't a surprise that when Kakashi mentioned getting cleaned up, far too many images came to mind. Harry wasn't even able to focus on a single memory for his alter to latch onto, so instead Hiri latched onto one of the negative ones, with Harry unable to stop it._

"I don't like the cold," Hiri muttered and Kakashi-sama promised that it wouldn't be cold but Hiri didn't believe him. There had been a blonde, long-necked woman who didn't let him have a warm water bath. He did remember being watched as he had a warm bath once though. He couldn't remember the face but he was inordinately pleased when Rin-sama said that she'd go with him.

_Harry rolls his eyes, "It was that bloody mermaid who watched," He told Hiri ineffectively. The alter couldn't hear him anyway and if he started throwing images of a girl at Hiri the alter would freak out about having Rin in the bathroom with him. So he didn't correct Hiri, though he really wanted to._

Rin-sama helped him out of his clothing as the water was running and then she got very quiet. She was looking at him funny and he didn't like it. "Rin-sama?" Hiri asked as he watched her watch him. There was something in her eyes that he saw that he knew. The way she looked at him. It was how she had looked at him before; before, when he'd taken his shirt off to go in the lake. Hiri paused and thought about that. Rin-sama hadn't been at the lake. In fact, he'd never been at a lake.

_"Hermione," Harry said, knowing his alter wouldn't hear him. He dug his hands into the pile of memories in front of him, looking for memories with water. There were the lake memories from the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the one with the bathtub and the mermaid. There was also all the ones from the dorm room. Some of those were fairly embarrassing. There was the new one, the one where Aunt Petunia had forced him in an ice bath when he was little. He pulled that memory out and studied it. He pursed his lips then set it to the side to deal with later. He was going to want to watch that one. Perhaps there were clues as to who hid that memory from him._

Hokage-sama was big. Hiri looked out the door of the bathroom and up and up and up at the blond man. He wondered what he would have to do to make the man smile at him again. He liked being smiled at even if Hokage-sama's smiles scared him. It was better when there were smiles no matter what he thought about them. And Hokage-sama wasn't smiling any more, he was just looking at him now. His face was blank, like a wall. Hiri didn't like not being able to read Hokage-sama.

_Harry knew exactly what Minato was looking at. It was the damned scars. He had over twenty years of scars on his body. Eight years of war left a lot of scars. Minato seemed to be greatly interested by the scar the Basilisk had left in his arm, and the thick, still red scars from the Death Eater's shackles. Maybe he thought they were connected. Harry laughed. As if anyone would believe that._

Rin-sama put her white cloth thing from her waist around him and took him back into the bathroom. The tub was warm when she lifted him up and put him in the water. Hiri wondered if he was allowed to splash, but didn't want to get in trouble. She rubbed bubbles into his hair and it hurt when it got into his eyes but Hiri didn't cry. He didn't want to see Rin-sama stop smiling at him even though he didn't understand why her smile looked like it hurt her. "You don't have to smile when you hurt," he said and patted her cheek gently. She looked down at him in the water and smiled at him anyway.

"I don't hurt, Hiri-kun." She said and he didn't believe her but didn't call her a liar. Telling people that they were lying made them hurt him and he didn't want that anymore.

_He watched Rin wash his alter and knew that she was looking at his scars like Minato did. She was an Iryou-nin, which he knew was a medic, thanks to Obito's memories. Medics don't like to see someone so young with scars like Harry's. Harry thought he might just start to like these people. They were taking care of him unlike anyone had when he actually had been three. _

"Thank you, Rin-sama," He said. Rin-sama brushed his hair with her fingers and he started to get sleepy. It had been so long since he'd been warm and now he was clean and no one had hurt him and maybe he should sleep because that smoky figure in his dreams liked him too.

*****xxXXxx*****


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Four: _Rin_

**Author:** wife-chan

**Rating:** Mature

**Warnings:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment/disturbing themes.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Author Notes:** Co-written by the two authors who make up wife-chan.

This chapter is very angsty(again) and has more descriptions of **child rape** and **abuse**. It will probably disturb some people. There is a reason the rating is Mature, so consider yourselves warned.

Again.

*****xxXXxx*****

Rin dries Hiri off with a towel gently. She can hear Kakashi purposely making noise as he comes up the stairs and she has the sleepy boy, wrapped in a dry towel, in her arms when her teammate knocks softly on the door.

"Rin?" He asks though the door and she stands up, cautiously holding Hiri in her arms.

She hasn't held a small child since Genma turned eight and insisted that he was too big for his older sister to be carrying him around. She opens the door after making sure that the towel is covering most of Hiri's body so that Kakashi doesn't freak out like her sensei had. Oh, he'd done it quietly and away from her and Hiri, but she could tell that he'd freaked out at seeing all the scars on the child.

She doesn't want to know how Kakashi would react because he's idolized Obito in his mind - not that she thinks that's a bad thing, really – and she doesn't think seeing Obito's son with such horrifying scars would be good for his psyche.

"Kakashi-kun," She smiles up at him. He used to be shorter than her, which isn't a surprise considering that he a year younger than her, but then he'd hit a growth spurt and shot up five inches over nine months. She wonders briefly how tall Obito would have been now, if he hadn't of died. He had been the eldest of them on Minato's team, a year older than herself.

"How's Hiri-kun?"

Hiri's face rolls towards her collarbone and his thin arms come up and encircle her neck. The scars around his wrists are visible, as well as the one near his elbow. Kakashi seems enthralled by something on Hiri's left hand more than the others.

"Help me put him to bed," She doesn't command him, she never could, but she doesn't have to ask either because he'd do anything for Hiri.

He reaches out and brushes a steady finger over Hiri's left hand and she can see anger in his eyes. "Rin, can you make this out?" He turns Hiri's hand gently towards her and she can see a line of what looks to be romanji scarred into Hiri's hand just above his thumb.

Rin squints at the letters, mouthing the syllables under her breath, and then louder;

"Iii - wi-ru - noto - terru - ri-esu?" she turns to Kakashi, sure that she mangled the words. She doesn't know what to make of this. Romanji is used sparingly, and only as supplements. There is something very strange about how the scarred words look, as well. Instead of being just carved into Hiri's hand, with rough strokes, they look as though they've just been written into the skin and then healed.

Rin wonders whose handwriting it is and how badly it hurt Hiri. Anger is churning in her stomach and her temper is flaring to the surface. She can't let it out though, because Kakashi needs her to be the calm one in this. He needs to be the one to rage.

"Someone cut this into his hand," Kakashi states the obvious, in that utterly calm voice that means he wants to punch something until it bleeds and dies. It used to scare her, before Obito died, before she learnt to sympathize with the feeling.

Rin nods, stroking Hiri's hair with one hand and watching the glazed look in Kakashi's one visible eye thaw as Hiri snuggles into her neck.

"Rin-sama?" Hiri mumbles into her hair, sounding tired but temporarily content. Rin doesn't want to break that mood, but they're delaying questioning things that need to be questioned - because the people who did this to Hiri are lurking out there somewhere. And they can't afford not to know.

"Hiri-kun," she begins gently, pulling him up to sit on the toilet seat, and wrapping the towel around him again when it slides down. She feels like busying her hands with something, doesn't like the feeling of her hands being empty. She's not walking into a battlefield and she's not in critical surgery, healing and saving a life, but that's how it feels anyway.

Hiri looks at her with wariness in his jade eyes, and she knows that children are intuitive, knows that he can feel her mood change. She hopes he won't close off from her when she asks him. She picks up the scarred hand, stroking it gently with a thumb, and she can feel the tendons tense under her fingers.

"Hiri-kun, could you tell me what this is?" she asks carefully, pulling his hand upward to show him what she means. Kakashi is hovering just behind her and Hiri's eyes flick from her face, to Kakashi and then rest on his hand. He looks uneasy, and she prays she hasn't made a mistake.

"She told me to write it; 'I will not tell lies'," He absently translates the romanji when he finally speaks and Rin closes her eyes to hold back her tears.

Kakashi reaches out and grasps her shoulder. He's clenching his hand so tight that Rin thinks that if he doesn't let up soon, her shoulder blade is going to crack. She can hear his mask rasp over his lips as he tries to say something and then he finally manages to speak loud enough for Hiri to hear him, "Why would 'she' tell you to do that?"

Hiri looks up into Kakashi's visible eye and a confused look comes over his face, "I had to be punished for lying to her." He says this calmly, as though it isn't a big thing to be told to carve 'I will not tell lies' into his own flesh.

"What did you write it with?" She asks him, trying to keep the questioning on a narrow track. She wants to know what kind of instrument can cause scarring like this, a perfect copy of handwriting.

Hiri blinks and seems to think about it. Rin fears for a moment that he's gone into a trance or flashback and then Hiri shakes his head slightly, "A quill. It had a... jutsu?" He frowns at the word 'jutsu', as though he's not sure that's the word he's looking for, "She told me to write without ink. But the ink was red. So red." His eyes are drifting closed again and Rin steadies him with her hands on his shoulders.

A pen that drew blood. What a hideous instrument, Rin thinks. And to use it on a child. It's wrong. So very wrong.

"Hiri-kun, do you know her name?"

Hiri forces his eyes open and blinks wearily at her, "She... came to my home." He leans against her arms, "She was my sensei." Rin shivers with the implications of a teacher torturing a student. Then she thinks that if this woman was Hiri's teacher, it's not a surprise that he speaks in full sentences and has a large vocabulary. Anyone would do their best, better than their best, to make sure they weren't 'punished' if the punishments were this harsh.

"Her name, Hiri-kun, do you know her name?" She doesn't want to push Hiri, but if they can get a name Kakashi can take it to ANBU and a search could be started.

Hiri blinks, eyes turning inward. He frowns, and under any other circumstances, the cuteness of that frown would have made Rin want to cuddle him. As it is though, she doesn't even register it.

"_Dolores Umbridge,_" Hiri says finally, blinking away the vague look in his eyes. Rin can feel her forehead crinkle. Hiri's accent was usually rather prominent, but when he says those words - the 'sensei's' name - it wasn't just an accent. It was a name from another language entirely.

Kakashi's hand on her shoulder feels heavy and she sees her own confusion mirrored in his masked features. There are many different dialects across the Elemental Countries, but no other actual languages. At least, that's what she had thought.

"This Do-ro-resu woman, what does she look like?" Kakashi asks, crouching down beside her. Hiri looks uncomfortable, stroking the scarred words with his other hand. Then he suddenly smiles a little, a brittle smile that Rin doesn't think he should be wearing.

"Like a pink toad," Hiri answers and his eyes are clouding over. It's not a very good description of a person, nothing that will be useful in a search, but it is something, at least.

She glances at Kakashi, who has now turned his attention towards the scars around Hiri's wrists, though his eye flickers down to Hiri's hand with even intervals. She knows he wants to ask if this Dororesu is responsible for the other scars, but these aren't thing they should be asking without their sensei there. Not just because he's their sensei, but because Hiri means as much to him as he does to her and Kakashi.

She opens her mouth to ask if maybe they should ask Minato-sensei to come up here, but then realizes that they're hunched over on the tiled bathroom floor with a towel-clad three-year-old and thinks that maybe this isn't the best place for a questioning.

Kakashi seems to read her mind, because he stands up slowly, and looks at the clothing he brought up. Rin takes the hint and starts unfolding them and handing them to Hiri.

Hiri stands up immediately and the towel falls to the floor. She can hear Kakashi's almost silent gasp and Hiri pulls the boxers and tee-shirt on. He struggles with the pants for a moment, but manages to get them on. The clothing is a little big, but it fits well enough; certainly better than the rags he had been wearing previously. The sweater is the last piece of clothing she hands to Hiri and his face lights up with obvious glee.

"Green!" He cuddles the thick sweater to his chest and buries his face into the material. Rin smiles at his childish antics, glad he can still act as young as he actually is. "I like green!" He looks up at her and his smile fades a little, "I used to like red. Before they started dying."

Rin chokes and can't help but pulling Hiri into her arms and hugging him tightly. She doesn't know who died and what relation they had with Hiri, but the fact that he's seen enough people die in bloody ways to not like red anymore is frightening.

"Rin-sama?" Hiri asks, "What's wrong?"

She lets him go and wipes tears from her face. She straightens herself out, patting her hair down and smoothing her uniform, "I'm okay, it's okay, Hiri-kun." She smiles at him and he pats her cheek again, like he had done in the bathtub.

"No smiles when you're sad. Smiles are only for when you're happy."

"I'm happy that we found you, Hiri," She says thickly. She promises to herself that she won't cry in front of Hiri again.

Hiri struggles into the sweater and gets it on, backwards. She laughs and twists it around so that it's on correctly. Hiri smiles at her, embarrassed. He steps away from her and spreads his arms wide.

"I look okay?" He asks as he looks down at himself and then back up to her and Kakashi.

Kakashi is silent so she nods, "You look wonderful, Hiri-kun." He sure as hell looks a lot better than he did when she'd first seen him.

She doesn't really like the Capri pants on him though. They fall mid calf on him and leave his lower legs in view. She can clearly see several dog bite scars that she thinks were made by a smaller breed of dog.

The fact that someone set a dog on Hiri long enough for it to leave marks like that makes her wonder how Hiri would react to Kakashi's ninken. But maybe he's already met one of them, because Rin sees the way Kakashi is staring at Hiri's legs, anger warring understanding and realization. It saddens her that Hiri might fear one of the very few things that Kakashi still holds dear.

"Shall we go down to the kitchen?" Rin asks the boys, though she directs the question more towards Hiri than to her teammate. She had been about to put Hiri back to bed, but he didn't seem tired anymore. Hiri shoots a glance at Kakashi and then nods hesitantly, looking like he wants to ensure he has Kakashi's approval.

Rin takes Hiri's hand in her own, and with Kakashi behind them both, they walk down the hall and descend down the stairs. Hiri keeps glancing backwards to Kakashi, unsurely, and Rin wonders if he believes that Kakashi's silence is his fault. She wishes she could kick the boy-genius and tell him to mind his behavior around Hiri, but since that would surely be noticed, she just huffs inwardly.

They enter the kitchen, where their sensei has started cooking dinner. From the smells wafting over from the stove, she can tell he's making omelet and though she isn't sure if Hiri will be able to eat hard food just yet, she doesn't voice her concerns; Hiri was able to keep down the rations bar that Kakashi had given him after all.

"Sensei," She says and Minato looks up from the omelet pan with a completely fake smile. He's smiling for Hiri's sake but she knows that it's not helping.

Hiri's eyes widen and he lets go of her hand with a gasp, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can do that, I didn't know I was supposed to," He pushes a chair up to the stove and climbs up it, ignoring his proximity to Minato. He reaches for a clean flipper in the utensil cup on the counter and then the handle of the pan.

It's a completely steel pan and the handle must be warm because Minato is holding a pot holder in one hand. Hiri doesn't seem to notice the heat though as he moves the pan over the burner and pokes at the cooking egg with the cooking utensil.

"Hiri-kun"? Minato questions, his brows furrowed and Hiri smiles up at him.

"I didn't know you were hungry. I can make omelets; I'm really good at it." One of his eyelids twitches and he seems to remember something because he ducks his head and turns back to watch the pan. He doesn't say anything though, so Rin wonders what he remembered.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Only moments ago Hiri was so weary he was falling asleep sitting upright and now he was wide awake and cooking. The fact that he thinks he is supposed to be cooking, that he even _knows_ how to cook, is disturbing. Another type of abuse she doesn't want to add to the ever growing list; slavery and drudgery tasks.

"Hiri," She takes the pan from him and lifts him onto her hip like a mother. She holds his hand in front of her and uses green healing chakra to sooth the redness from his palm, "You don't have to cook for us."

"I won't burn it, Rin-sama," Hiri tells her as though he is explaining something common place, "Oba-sama only had to hit me with the frying pan once. I don't burn anything now."

Rin clenched her teeth together and forced herself, with all the shinobi training she's had, to not react. "It is not your job to cook for us, Hiri-kun." If she ever tracks down the bitch who'd hit Hiri with a pan she'd kill her. Slowly. With chakra scalpels. "Where did she hit you?" She asks gently, trailing a hand over his palm to make sure that all the damage is gone.

"She hit my ear," Hiri grins up at her, "But I didn't mind. None of the grease got my face."

Something cracks and both Rin and Hiri look up to see Minato cradling his hand to his chest. Rin can clearly see that he's dislocated his thumb in an effort to not start shouting.

"Sensei," Kakashi spoke up, walking over to Minato. He takes Minato's hand and snaps the thumb back into place without hesitation. Minato doesn't even wince. It looks like he doesn't even notice. "Sensei, lets finish the food and then Hiri-kun can go to bed for the night. It's already eight o'clock and he's had a long and trying day."

"Yes. Of course." Minato's face lifted in that same fake smile and Rin cuddles Hiri closer to her. Hiri doesn't seem to like the fakeness to Minato's smile. Not at all. "Rin-chan, why don't you settle Hiri at the table. The first omelet will be ready in a few minutes."

Rin doesn't find it hard to get Hiri settled down at the table, though the boy keeps looking over at the two men cooking. Minato and Kakashi are obviously ignoring the longing looks Hiri was sending them.

Rin isn't sure why Hiri wants to cook so she pushes the thought from her mind and tries to engage him in conversation.

The child doesn't really want to talk to her though, so she plays with the chopsticks, twirling them around her fingers. It seems to intrigue Hiri, the speed that she's got the small utensils flying over her fingers. She smiles at him and adds another set of chopsticks to the dance around her fingers and Hiri breaks into a wide smile.

He looks like he wants to ask her something but he never speaks up. She doesn't let that worry her. When Hiri is ready to talk, he'll talk, she's sure.

The food smells good and Kakashi brings the first plate to the table. He places it in front of Hiri and the boy frowns.

"Who is this for?"

"That's for you, Hiri-kun," Rin tells him calmly.

He shakes his head and her heart burns, "Oh, I wouldn't dare eat first. Please, Rin-sama," He pushes the plate towards her and looks up at her through dark lashes, "You can eat first."

"Hiri-kun," She smiles again, "There is no 'first' and 'last' when we eat," She gestures at her sensei and Hiri peeks over at him, "Minato-sensei is going to make so much food we won't be able to eat it all. He always does."

Hiri's eyes brighten and he nods, "Okay, Rin-sama." She pushes the plate back to him and he carefully takes up the single small set of chopsticks that Minato had. Rin is thankful that her sensei is such a pack rat because he still has the chopsticks that he used to give to Kakashi to use when he was six.

He's clumsy with the chopsticks, but Rin patiently helps him until he can get a piece of his omelet from his plate to his mouth. She wonders why he doesn't know how to use them correctly, but then questions why she would think that the bastards who had him would teach him that. From what she can understand of his life so far he's been little more than a badly used slave or indentured servant.

She wants to give him a glass of milk, but doesn't know if his stomach can handle so much rich food at one time, so she gets him a glass of water. He's very careful with the small glass cup and doesn't spill so much as a drop of the water.

Minato and Kakashi join them at the table and soon enough most of the food is gone. She hadn't been lying when she told Hiri that her sensei always made too much food. He is constantly complaining that his students were too skinny.

Now he actually has someone to worry about and she thinks that maybe that's not a good thing.

Hiri is starting to drift off again, and he pinches his arm hard enough to bruise to wake himself up. She stills his hand with her own and uses her chakra to get rid of the blossoming redness. She tells him that he doesn't have to hurt himself if he's tired. It's time for bed anyway. Hiri smiles at her and she picks him up. Before she can turn to leave the kitchen and go upstairs he throws a longing glance at Kakashi and she stifles a giggle.

She lets him down and he toddles to Kakashi. He pauses at Kakashi's side and when Kakashi doesn't move, he hugs his knees tightly - only for a second before letting go - and then races as fast as his tired body will let him back to her. She swings him up into her arms again and takes him upstairs to the bedroom they had let him rest in before.

The bedding is dirty so she strips the sheets and remakes the bed while Hiri sits beside Kakashi's futon with a pillow in his arms. She lays him on the bed and tucks him in. She doesn't undress him because it can get cold in Minato's house even with the heat on and Hiri is too skinny to be sleeping without the extra protection his clothing offers him. He murmurs nonsense words to her and she sings him to sleep like she did before.

Downstairs she finds Kakashi and Minato still sitting at the table. They haven't moved.

"Sensei?" She stumbles to her chair and slumps down in it. "What are we going to do?"

Minato stands up and starts cleaning the table off. Rin sighs and starts to help him. When the kitchen is clean he might have an answer. She knows that cleaning helps her sensei think. Kakashi doesn't move from his chair. In fact, he's still staring at his knees where Hiri had hugged him.

"Rin?" Kakashi's voice is very quiet and unlike him, "Hiri hugged me."

"Yes, yes he did." She raises an eyebrow at him, "You didn't hug him back."

"I- I didn't want to scare him," Kakashi mutters and she understands so she doesn't say anything.

By the time the kitchen is spotless Kakashi has gotten over his shock and even managed to dry a few of the dishes.

Rin wipes her hands dry and a sharp wordless sound from Minato causes her to turn and look at him. Minato is holding the frying pan that he'd been using. She can see that he's trying to imagine hitting a child - any child - with a hot pan full of boiling grease and he can't make himself think of it. His face reddens with anger and he stalks to the door to the backyard. He flings the door open wide and Rin watches in something close to amazement as her massively obsessive compulsive sensei draws back with the pan in his hand and then _throws_ it as hard as he can. She gapes as she watches the frying pan fly over the closest village wall into the surrounding forest.

"Sensei?" She thinks she might be a little afraid.

"I am never, _never_, having another frying pan in this fucking house." He growls and Rin can't help but agree with the sentiment, if not the practicality of that statement. She never wants to see another frying pan either.

"Sensei, I have to go home," Rin tells him quietly when he has calmed down a bit. Her parents are on a mission and she needs to check on Genma. He's graduating from the Academy this year and she wants to make sure that he hasn't stabbed himself in the throat with one of his senbon again. He's horrible at throwing senbon, but she hears him promise on the graves of their ancestors - every day - that he'll master the art of senbon.

She just hopes he survives that long. He even started to chew on a senbon during non training times and she's had to heal the inside of his mouth more than once because of holes in his cheeks and tongue and once at the back of his throat.

"Go on, Rin-chan. Kakashi and I will hold down the fort here. You have family to take care of." Because he's her sensei as well as the Hokage, Minato knows that she is alone with Genma at the moment.

"Alright. If his fever goes back up, come and get me. And for the love of the Gods, don't go into his room, Mina-sensei," She feels her blush over her nose at calling him by the nickname she'd used years ago, "He's wary of you. Send Kakashi if you need to check on him."

"I know," Minato pulls her into a hug and she takes a moment to breathe in his scent. He smells of parchment, ink and blood; he smells of steel, oil and leather. She leans back, goes to her toes and kisses his cheek softly.

"I'll be back in the morning. Hiri should sleep all night, he's tired, but if he wakes up before I get here, you can send a toad to wake me up."

Minato smiles at her, "I thought you didn't like my toads."

"I don't," She doesn't hate them, but she doesn't hold any love for the amphibious creatures, "I just don't want Kakashi's ninken to scare Hiri."

Minato's brow furrows, "Yes, I saw those scars. A small breed?"

Kakashi nods, "I'd say not a lot bigger than Pakkun. I-" He pauses then continues, "I had Pakkun with me when I found Hiri. He didn't react well to him."

"Not a surprise," Minato murmurs. He kisses Rin absently on the forehead and guides her to the front door, "Rin-chan, would you mind stopping by Kushina's? I was supposed to check her apartment after I got out of the Tower since she's on a mission for the next two weeks, but, well," He shoots a glance over to the stairs and Rin nods.

"Sure, Sensei," She slips her sandals on and with a final wave to Minato and Kakashi - who's hiding behind their sensei - she starts on her way to Uzumaki Kushina's place.

Kushina and Minato have been dating for just over a year and she refuses to move in with Minato. Rin can tell that she doesn't want to endanger Minato by providing his enemies with a softer target, but thinks that Kushina is also a bit paranoid. All jounin are, so she can forgive that. She doesn't want Kushina to hurt her sensei though, and Rin knows that Minato plans on asking the red headed woman to marry him.

Rin hopes that Kushina will get over her fears and say yes.

****xXx****

When Rin wakes up the next morning there's something leathery and dry on her forehead. She reaches up to brush it off and something wet touches her hand. Her face screws up and she plucks the toad off her face.

"Damn it, I said Sensei could wake me up, not give me warts."

"I don't have warts!" The toad gives her a haughty sniff - kind of like an Uchiha, she thinks with humor - and jumps out of her hand to the floor. "Minato-san said that Hiri is up."

"Thank you Gama-san," She doesn't know the names of the toads Minato uses, he uses far too many for her to memorize all the markings and names of them, so she uses the generic term 'gama' and most of them seem happy with that.

The toad sniffs again and vanishes in a small puff of smoke.

Rin makes her way back to Minato-sensei's house, but stops at one of the stands at the open market space. The woman in the stand has a cart full of brightly-colored candy, and in the back of her mind, Rin can hear Hiri's words from yesterday; _sweeter than lollies..._

She eyes the basket with strawberry caramel flavored lollipops and decides that she doesn't know what 'lollipops' Hiri was talking about yesterday - though she has a fair idea - but she wants him to replace those associations with new ones. The civilian woman in the stand smiles at her and Rin nods, weaving through the myriad of people rushing by to stand in front of the basket.

"Which one would you like, shinobi-san?" the woman asks politely. She has wrinkles around her mouth and eyes from laugh lines, and Rin points to a small one shaped like a scroll. Though the shape isn't as cute, it'll be easier for Hiri's small mouth to envelop, rather than the ones shaped like hearts or clouds.

The woman wraps the lollipop in brown paper, and money shifts hands. Rin steps away from the stand, holding the lollipop and sniffs the sugary smells wafting from it. She hopes Hiri will like it.

Rin buys a sandwich from another vendor as a quick morning meal and continues down the street briskly, not enjoying the bright weather like she usually would on a day off.

When Rin knocks on Minato-sensei's door, she isn't too surprised to see Kakashi open it. She had expected him to remain behind, and be up at this hour. Her teammate is sweaty and his clothes are dirty, and Rin hopes that he was only practicing his katas and not venting more anger. She hopes no other unpleasant surprises have emerged without her there to act as support and to rage with them.

But Kakashi looks calm, if not happy, when he lets her, so she's not too worried. She knows they have many storms to wade through yet, but it's still nice to see some normalcy after the emotionally wrenching previous day.

"Hiri is in the bathroom," Kakashi mutters as they enter the kitchen. There are kitchen supplies on the counter, and the air holds a lingering smell of food, telling her that they've had breakfast. She doubts Kakashi even remembered it, but their sensei definitely would have, as organized as he is.

Kakashi glances at the wrapped up lollipop in her hand and Rin tries to smile as she lets him take it from her to examine; "I thought Hiri-kun might enjoy having a real lollipop," she murmurs, noticing the way her teammate stiffens at the reminder of Hiri's words from yesterday. His jaw works under his mask, and she waits quietly until he finally nods.

"I see." Kakashi's voice is quiet and simmering and she hopes his mood will remain calm a while longer.

She doesn't want Hiri to ever be afraid of Kakashi, because her genius teammate needs Hiri so much that it would break him if the boy ever saw him as an enemy. It's already cracking Minato-sensei's mask, the way Hiri is so uncomfortable around him even when he smiles and acts cheerful.

Their sensei is the Hokage and isn't fragile, but he's not unbreakable. She hopes Hiri will accept him too, soon. Or accept him as much as he has accepted her and Kakashi. She's not sure how comfortable the boy really is around them, since his moods seem to swing back and forth between tentative trust and barely hidden distrust.

"Where is sensei?" Rin asks, only now realizing that it's rather odd for their sensei not to meet her when she comes through the door.

Kakashi shrugs, shoulders rolling with his inherent shinobi grace, "In the backyard. He said something about not having time to think yesterday and how he wanted to shadow-spar."

Rin nods and glances up the stairs. Hiri is taking a rather long time to come down, and for some reason she feels nervous. Or perhaps just a bit over-protective; it's not as if he'll drown in the toilet... she sees Kakashi make the same movement as her and can tell that he's eager to check on Hiri, but that he's not sure he should.

She's gotten very good at reading his covered and usually apathetic face, and knows that people would be surprised if they knew how much or how keenly Kakashi feels things since he realized that having emotions is not a frivolous luxury granted only to civilians.

When Hiri finally comes down the stairs, he's wearing too-long pants that have been rolled up to his ankles and the green sweater that he'd had on yesterday.

He looks calmer this morning and Rin hopes that the good meal last night and sleep have helped him. He glances between the two of them and hurries forward to hug Kakashi's knees again. He retreats as quickly as the day before, but doesn't seem as nervous.

"Good morning, Hiri-kun," Rin smiles at him and Hiri smiles back at her widely.

"Good morning, Rin-sama," He stands in the kitchen awkwardly with them and Rin starts towards the living room.

"Come and sit down," She gestures at the couch and Hiri balks a bit.

"I couldn't," He mutters as he looks at the subdued blue color of the furniture, "I'm not allowed to sit in the living room."

"Where are you allowed to sit, Hiri-kun?" She asks him, hoping to make him comfortable.

He thinks for a moment then a shy grin comes over his face and Rin falls completely in love with his expression. It's just so very adorable.

"I sit in the Common Room," He explains to her, "And I do homework. 'Mione likes it when I do homework, it makes her happy."

Rin represses and urge to 'aww' out loud, "Well Hiri-kun, this living room is Sensei's Common Room. This is where we all do homework." She isn't lying. The whole team had spent many a night in Minato's living room doing shinobi work. This was where Minato had insisted Obito re-write the reports that he'd dropped that one time. "Who's Maionii?" She asks him as he gingerly sits on the edge of the couch and she sits next to him but not close enough to touch him accidentally.

"'Mione is my friend. She has brown hair too," He looks at her hair then back to her eyes, "She was with Ron."

"Oh?" Rin doesn't frown, though she wants too. She wonders about Maionii and Ron's ages, so she asks him how old his friends are.

"Ron is older than me by a few months. 'Mione is almost a year older than me. They lived at home with me most of the time, but they went to back to their own houses for two months in the summer."

"How was Maionii with Ron?" She wants to find out everything she can about the children that had lived with Hiri. She wants to know if they were as badly abused as Hiri. She wants to know more so she can rescue them.

"Ron asked 'Mione to marry him," Hiri's lips twist up in a smile, "She said yes."

Rin blinks for a moment. Three and four year olds didn't get married, not in any civilization, but she has to remember that Hiri hasn't lied to them yet. "Did they get married, Hiri-kun?"

"Yep," Hiri seems happy about that fact and he bounces on the couch with his excitement. He must really like his friends to be so happy to talk about them and to forget that he was so scared of her and Kakashi yesterday that he'd literally hurt himself trying to get away from them. His expression falls when he then announces, "But they're dead now."

"How-" She pauses and bites her lip. She knows that Kakashi is angry without having to look at him. Two small children are dead. Friends of Hiri. Dead. "How did they die?" She reaches out steadily and Hiri allows her to touch him. She strokes his shoulder to keep him calm and reassure herself that Hiri is alright, that Hiri is still with them in the here and now.

Hiri winces and ducks his head. "When I left; when I left home," His eyes fill with tears, "They died when I left. 'Mione told me that I should go anyway, even though they died."

Tears filled Rin's eyes and she draws Hiri into a hug. His friends had died for him. Had died to get him away from such a horrible place. Ron and Maionii are heroes in her eyes. From his expression, she can tell that Kakashi agrees with her. Obito had died to save him and karma had come around to save Hiri.

"Hiri," Rin whispers as she rocks the boy back and forth, "I'm so sorry."

Hiri curls up in her arms. He doesn't cry, he doesn't even seem all that sad, but he is resigned and sorrowful. She wonders how hard Hiri's short life has been, how alone he must have been to not understand what exactly what being dead meant. He still spoke of his friends as though they were alive.

"It's okay," He tells her, "They're happy now."

Rin wonders if she shouldn't be watching Hiri for signs of suicidal behavior even if he is only three. It's dangerous when people believe that being dead is better than being alive.

She looks over to Kakashi and he lifts up the lollipop in his hand with a basic shrug. He has no idea what to do for Hiri and is offering the only thing he knows most children like. She smiles at him in thanks and takes the lollipop.

"Hiri-kun," She lifts Hiri's face and he leans back so that he can see her, "I bought you a lollie. It's a real lollipop, I think you might like it; it's sweeter than the medicine that I gave you yesterday."

Hiri stares at the lollipop in her hand and reaches out for it tentatively. She lets him take it from her and watches the boy unwrap the treat.

The treat is carefully unwrapped in Hiri's small hands and he frowns as he looks at it in his hands. His face lights up and he looks up at her and exclaims in a loud voice, "It looks like a penis!"

"Excuse me?" Minato's voice growls from behind Rin and Hiri but Rin is far to horrified by Hiri's words to care that her sensei feels like he's less than a second away from hurting her. Her mind is shutting down and she can't help but see what Hiri must see and it hurts her far more than she's ever been hurt before.

Minato's sudden entrance to the living room startles Hiri and the boy fumbles with the lollipop and it bounces off the edge of the kotatsu as it falls to the carpeted floor. Hiri begins to shake and tremble and Rin pulls him back into the tightest hug she can manage without hurting the boy. Tears are streaming down her face and she can feel both her sensei and her teammate's killing intent.

Hiri must be able to feel it too because he's stopped shaking and has gone completely still. His eyes are wide and they switch from brilliant green to blood red and the twin tomoe in each eye around his pupils are spinning.

"I'm sorry," Hiri apologizes stiffly, still not moving, and he tries to tell Team Minato that he knows 'penis' is a bad word and that he shouldn't say it but he couldn't help himself. He doesn't even know why he'd said such a thing. Hiri stands as he speaks and bunches his sweater sleeve over his tiny fist. He leans over the kotatsu and starts scrubbing at the edge where the candy had hit diligently. As he apologizes profusely for using such language in the presence of his betters, he kneels on the floor and carefully picks up each and every piece of the broken lollipop and Kakashi is the one to pull him away from his cleaning.

Kakashi gently makes Hiri give the broken pieces of candy to Rin for her to dispose of and holds him close, cuddles him to his chest whispering nonsense words as he strokes the boy's hair and tries to project a calm façade. It's not quite working, but it is calming Hiri. Minato takes a step towards them and Hiri flinches. Kakashi glares at his sensei, at his Hokage, and backs away, spinning himself and Hiri so that he's facing Minato and Hiri is behind him, protecting the child.

Rin watches it all happen with tears running down her face. When she puts the candy into the garbage, she realizes that she'll need to be much more careful in the future about what she buys, and she has trouble understanding why she hadn't thought of how the cylindrical lollipop would have looked to Hiri; to someone who's been abused. She doesn't know why she'd even thought to bypass the heart and cloud shaped candies. She could have brought them back to Minato's and broken off pieces for Hiri to have. She can't believe what just happened.

How could she have been so foolishly careless? She should have known how Hiri would see the lollipop, should have know that an abused child would find the cylindrical shape similar to a penis.

There is something about the way he said it that bothers her even more; the way he'd seemed to almost light up, as if the concept was funny, and she can't help but wonder how often he must have been subjected to such abuse for him to see it as something even remotely normal.

Kakashi and Minato hold their positions until Hiri's voice - a little breathless and plenty scared - sounds up from behind Kakashi's back. Rin can see the way the three year old is trying to lean around Kakashi, grasping at his sleeve hesitantly. She knows she should probably try to defuse the tension before this turns out worse than what is already happening, but she can't seem to get her legs under her.

Hearing Hiri say something like that so openly confirm what had only been grounded suspicion before now takes her breath away and leaves her feeling drained and wrung out.

"Kakashi-sama? Please, I'm sorry, don't be angry-" and with Hiri's panicked words, the killing intent fades from the air. It's not completely gone, though; it's just under the surface - in Kakashi's faux-relaxed stance and the set of Minato's eyebrows - waiting to spill back out.

Rin clears her throat at the same moment Kakashi turns around and picks Hiri up. Hiri has a startled expression on his face, and she's sure she sees him tense, but he says nothing, allowing himself to be maneuvered into her teammates lap. His sharingan deactivates as he calms. The awkwardly brotherly way Kakashi is trying to hold Hiri could have been amusing if not for the dark and heavy look in his eye.

Minato moves to sit on one of the chairs around the table, and turns it so that it's facing the rest of his team. He's massaging the bridge of his nose, and Rin can tell that he's forcibly suppressing his temper. She hopes it will hold out for the now unavoidable discussion -_ interrogation_ - about what exactly Hiri knows about twisted adult 'pleasures'.

"Hiri-kun," Rin murmurs, trying to clear the lump in her throat that makes it so hard to speak, to ask what she must, "Hiri-kun, why did you say that?" she can't bring herself to speak the actual word - though she usually has no problem with sex, being a medic - because at this moment, it feels so very dirty.

Hiri tenses in Kakashi's lap, small hands twisting in the fabric of his too-large sweater. Rin can see him swallow convulsively and doesn't think she's ever seen a three year old look quite so weary.

"I don't know?" Hiri sounds like he's questioning his own actions as well. Rin doesn't think he's lying, but he's not telling the truth either.

"Hiri-kun," She tries a different approach, a hopefully softer one, "May I ask why you don't like to be called Hiri-chan?"

Hiri's face screws up and his eyes darken, "I'm not a girl," He says with conviction, "No matter what they mock me with. I don't wear dresses and I don't want long hair and I don't care if my eyes are 'pretty'."

She had been wrong; this topic is not any softer than the lollipop topic. Seeing as it seems to be the same damn topic though, it's not a surprise.

"Did someone do that to you?" Rin asks again. She doesn't like asking Hiri these questions but doesn't think that Kakashi would be able to handle it and she also knows that Minato would frighten Hiri too much for them to get coherent answers.

"The man with the snakes," Hiri mumbled under his breath, "His _minions_. They liked to dress me up and parade me around. I didn't like it." Hiri's lip twisted up in a half-snarl, "Bastards like to watch me, like to mock my pain."

"Oh, Hiri," Rin covers her mouth with her hands and bites her lips. It is worse than she had thought it would be, listening to Hiri talk about his abuse.

"I'm okay, Rin-sama," Hiri reaches out for her and Kakashi reluctantly lets him leave his arms. Hiri throws his arms around Rin's neck and hugs her tight, "I got out."

"Yes," She cries into his inky black hair, "Yes, you did."

She breathes in, barely holding back a sob, and over the tousled mop of black hair she sees Kakashi watch her and Hiri, looking like he's gnashing his teeth. His hands are curled into fists, taking advantage of Hiri's turned back to let some of his anger show, and Rin holds onto the boy a bit longer to let Kakashi smooth his expression before Hiri turns back to him and resettles into his lap.

She breathes out quietly, watching Minato watch them all from his place in the corner, and he seems so far away from them all, and Rin doesn't know how to help Hiri bridge that distance yet. But one thing at the time. Hiri is talking, and she needs to keep things that way if they're going to find out about what has happened to him.

"Hiri-kun, can you tell me what your - home looked like?" she is going to try easing into the subject - but she's not sure if she's doing it for Hiri, or for herself. She hesitates to call the place Hiri used to reside in 'home', but since that is how Hiri has thought of it for the past short years of his life, she doesn't have much of a choice.

Hiri wriggles a bit, and his eyes are shifting back and forth almost spastically - and for a second, when it seems like his eyes are going to roll up into his head, panic grabs a hold of her; is he flashbacking, is he going to seize, should she have started the questioning from another angle? She can't tell what subjects will be painful for Hiri, she can only try to thread very carefully.

But Hiri finally opens his mouth, looking a bit hesitant, "First home or second home or third home?"

Rin blinks, not sure what he means, but answers with the most obvious choice, "First home?" she wonders if even one of those homes had been a good one, but doesn't dare to hope.

Hiri frowns, eyes darkening and turning inward. There is a very long moment of silence before Hiri speaks up softly, reluctantly.

"It was white and big, with flowers outside that I took care of. I liked the flowers," Hiri begins, and there is something in the back of her head that knows this pleasant picture Hiri is painting is a facade for something much worse.

Hiri sighs and continues in an even softer voice, "I didn't like the cupboard, even if the spiders were okay. As long as they didn't crawl on my face when I slept..." he trails off, looking thoughtful, and Rin is trying desperately to hold in an outraged exclamation. She looks to her sensei for help, but he has lightning in his eyes and his brows are creased - so she turns back and looks at Kakashi, but if Minato-sensei is lightning, Kakashi is stone.

So she hedges the question with the outrage still in the back of her throat, straining her voice as she speaks, "You slept - in a cupboard?"

Hiri looks up from where he had been focusing on pulling at the ends of his sleeves. It's the baffled expression on his face that makes her want to just let go and fall to instincts, and then Hiri smiles slightly, opens his mouth and says reassuringly, "It's the best place for freaks like me."

Now it's Kakashi's turn for his anger to spark. Rin has heard people calling Kakashi a 'freak' before because of his past and his abilities and his 'stolen' sharingan. It's the one insult that Kakashi has trouble not responding to.

"You're not a freak, Hiri-kun," Rin tells him before Kakashi responds to that. "Never."

Hiri looks at her like he doesn't believe her and her stomach clenches. It's hard to stay calm when Hiri is talking about his abuse like it's common place.

"Okay," He's patronizing her and she lets him. She'd help he understand soon enough that he wasn't a freak, wasn't a shame or a burden.

"What else happened at the white house?" It hurts Rin every time Hiri opens his mouth, even if he doesn't say anything.

He thinks about it and his eyes turn inward again. He doesn't come out of it this time though, when he starts to speak, "Oba-sama didn't like me. I sometimes got bread to eat. And then a big man came. He was a giant, and he took me away. To my second home."

Minato takes up the questioning and Rin is relieved. She isn't sure how she would have managed to keep going. Her stomach feels knotted and her tongue heavy.

"What happened at your second home, Hiri-kun."

Hiri strokes a few fingers over the romaji scarred into his hand idly, "Umbridge." His tiny body shivers violently and his eyes close, "Pain. The blond man. His sparkly smile. He was a bad sensei. He took memories. I couldn't remember that he touched me. He tried to take Ron's." His hands flew up and he covered his eyes, "I couldn't see! The big snake would kill me." His voice stuttered, "The man, the snake-man, he didn't like it. Didn't like me."

Kakashi holds him tightly and just breathes. It takes several moments, but Hiri seems to calm back down.

"What else happened, Hiri?"

"I met my friends." Hiri says in wonder, his eyes opening. "There was a bird. A white owl." Then his face goes curiously blank, "And man with a hooked nose, he violated me."

Rin can see both Kakashi and Minato-sensei stiffen, and she feels as though her vision is tunneling in. Hiri says 'violated' with just the tiniest quiver in his voice, but his expression stays calm and that makes it very hard to breathe. He _shouldn't_ be calm, it's all wrong. He shouldn't be this accepting, he shouldn't even _know_ a word like 'violated' -

She fades back into the real world to catch the tail-end of Hiri's next sentence "...for my own good. I think he just wanted to open me for the snake man - but maybe it _was_ for my own good-" Rin's ears are ringing with a strange high-pitched keening sound, but Kakashi's harsh voice snaps her out of it.

"It was _not_ 'for your own good', Hiri." Kakashi's voice is thick and hard, and Rin isn't sure if he's trying not to cry or trying not to scream. Hiri quiets abruptly, and Rin can't help but be a bit relieved at that. She feels like throwing up, or possibly get roaring drunk. She's never thought much of drinking, but she knows it's supposed to help you temporarily forget.

"Hiri-kun, did they say that to you? That it was for your own good?" Minato-sensei's voice is soft with the calmness that overtakes her sensei whenever faced with particularly difficult enemies. She isn't surprised he's counting enemies in Hiri's words.

"...Headmaster said so. He said I needed to be prepared to face the snake-man's intrusions..."

The only 'snake-man' Rin knows of is Orochimaru-sama. She thinks he's a bit creepy and knows that there have been rumors about his desiring the sharingan, but no one has actually said anything. They can't; not about a Sannin, not without irrefutable proof.

She realizes that Hiri might be that proof and it's scary to think that a Sannin could be responsible for the pain that Obito's son has gone through.

"Do you remember what the snake-man looked like, Hiri?" Minato asks another question. Rin is glad her teammates are equally upset and worried about who was behind all the pain that Hiri's had to go through.

Hiri starts shaking and gasping - but there are no tears and Rin hates that Hiri doesn't cry - and Kakashi hugs him tight, his arms wrapped around the little boy. Rin stands abruptly and hurries from the couch to the bathroom. She collapses to her knees in front of the toilet and her morning sandwich comes up violently as she cries and chokes.

Hiri has been conditioned to have sex with adults. He had been in a place where he'd been _trained_ to be raped; trained to be abused, trained to be a toy for people. Rin thinks that she won't ever be able to look at Hiri without that knowledge pushing at her, screaming at her from the back of her mind.

It hurts her to know that Hiri will never know innocence. It hurts to know that Hiri hasn't ever trusted an adult.

A hand rests on her shoulder and someone is asking if she's alright and she isn't. She'll never be alright after finding out how evil people can be.

Strong hands pull her up, and she coughs and chokes on the bile in her mouth. Minato-sensei's arms hold her tightly and Rin grabs his shirt. She's shinobi, and a medic, and she's seen evil up close and personal many times, but never in this way. Never this calculated cruelty that seems almost other-worldy. This isn't two even factions warring for the sake of their countries. This isn't even a mission victim where casualties had been expected. This is something entirely different, and Rin isn't sure if she wanted to know about this side of humanity.

She's handed a glass and she gulps down the water gratefully, trying to get rid of more than one kind of bitterness in her throat. It's not working very well, but she hadn't expected it to anyway.

"Are you all right, Rin-chan? Do you need a break?" That's normally something that Minato only asks during particularly hard missions, but she's not too surprised to hear that question in this situation. This _feels_ like a particularly hard mission.

"No, I don't," she answers softly, and she feels Minato nod against the top of her head. She has to be there, she has to hear what Hiri has to say. If Hiri can live through this and still stay sane, then she can surely listen to his retelling of it. Doing anything else would be cowardly and a betrayal of Obito's memory.

There is one thing she wants to ask Minato-sensei before they return to the kitchen, though. It's been nibbling at the back of her mind since Hiri mentioned his now dead friends.

"Sensei - when Hiri spoke about Maionii and Ron, he said that though they were dead they were 'happy now'-," with lightly trembling hands she puts the glass down to the side of the washbasin and gazes upward, to where Minato's serious eyes meet hers. "Do you think- do you think we should watch Hiri for- for signs of..." she trails off when she feels the lump in her throat return.

"Suicide," He says for her and his eyes are the saddest she's ever seen. She nods and he grimaces. She realizes that he's worried about the same thing.

"Oh," She whispers to herself. She feels like she might throw up again and forces it down. Minato hugs her again and she nuzzles his shirt. His smell cleans away the smell of her episode and it's just the salt of her tears that she can smell now. "Sensei," She mouths into the material under her face. His hand is stroking her hair and his steady breathing calms her more.

"We'll watch over him, Rin-chan," He tells her gently and continues to pet her hair, "And we'll give him something to live for. He's safe now. He's got us."

"Thank you," She leans back and looks up at him. Minato's face is curiously blank and she can tell that it hurts him greatly to know that he can't hold or hug Hiri like he is doing for her. She wonders if Hiri will ever be comfortable with her sensei and hopes that he will overcome his fears of adults.

It will be a long process, but she thinks - no, she _swears_ - that Hiri will learn some adults can be trusted. That Minato can be trusted.

They re-enter the kitchen together, and Rin feels just a little stronger with their sensei by her side. She wishes that she could explain that feeling to Hiri, but doesn't think he'll understand what she means.

Kakashi and Hiri are quiet, but they both look up at Rin's and Minato's arrival. Hiri looks unsure and a little frightened, and she knows her teammate well enough to see the worry in his eye. She smiles a brave smile - she hopes it looks brave, anyway - and seats herself again. Minato lags behind to lean against the wall behind her, and Rin thinks that she can hardly get safer than that.

"I'm sorry Hiri-kun, I think I might have caught a stomach bug." Hiri doesn't look like he believes her entirely, but allows her to pat his shoulder. She feels as though he's doing it more for her comfort than his own, and though that gesture would have been cute for any other child, in Hiri it just feels wrong. He shouldn't feel like he has to force himself for her sake.

Kakashi clears his throat quietly.

"Hiri told me that the snake-man is 'pale, tall and speaks with snakey S's'," he quotes, and though his tone is completely even, Rin can hear what her teammate is so carefully not implying. Minato can obviously hear it too, because she feels him lean forward.

"Hiri-kun, you said this 'snake-man' has 'minions'. What did the minions look like?" Minato sounds as though he already has an inkling about what Hiri might answer to that, and Rin wonders if he's had suspicions about Orochimaru before this.

Hiri looks scared and he clasps his hand in the same too-adult gesture he used yesterday. "White masks," His voice breaks on the second word and he breathes out in a sob. Rin feels herself tense, both in reaction to Hiri's distress, and his words. The only people with white masks that she knows of are the ANBU...

...and that could mean that this is larger and far more politically dangerous than they had ever thought. Kakashi meets her eyes, and he looks borderline horrified. She can understand why; the ANBU are his people, and to realize that he might have been fighting side-by-side with some of the people that hurt Hiri must be more than painful.

"Hiri-kun, do you know how many minions the snake-man had?" Minato asks calmly, slipping back into that tranquil 'I'm-beyond-angry' voice. She knows he must be thinking the same things she and Kakashi are, and that as Hokage, suspicions like this are more than personal. He's preparing to interrogate every ANBU under his command, she's sure.

Hiri frowns at his hands and answers slowly, "I don't know, they all looked the same..." he glances up at Minato apologetically, looking like he's expecting, if not a physical punishment, then at least a verbal lashing. Minato murmurs absolving words, and she can almost feel him push the thoughts about the possible traitors to the back of his mind. He'll deal with them as soon as possible, but not without a plan, and not before finishing the original conversation with Hiri.

There would be no point rushing out and calling up all ANBU for an interrogation; that would be like announcing that something is wrong, that they've found something out, and that's the last thing they want at this time. This would need to be planned together with the ANBU and T&I officers Minato knows are trustworthy.

"Are there any of them that you could describe for us? Anyone that talked funny, or maybe they had strange hair. Did you see any tattoos?" Rin thinks that Minato is pushing but she can't let herself stop him. They need to know as soon as they can so that Minato can start doing something, start his investigation.

"They had marks," Hiri brings his brows together as he concentrates, "On their left arms." Rin can see Kakashi grow colder and colder as more of the details match up with ANBU. Kakashi has his own black tattoo on his left arm. Rin is glad that Kakashi always wears long sleeves when he's off duty. She doesn't know how Hiri would have reacted if he'd seen Kakashi's ANBU tattoo.

Hiri goes on to tell them about a man with long blond hair with a cane, a feral man that growled all the time and had horrible scars on his body.

Rin tries not to think about under what circumstances Hiri would have seen the man's body.

He tells them about the hooked nose man with greasy black hair and a short pudgy man that was nervous, always jittery. He tells them about the crazy woman that cackled and how she'd broken his jaw once.

Then he tells them about the teenagers with cold voices and steady hands.

Rin's eyes widen at the same time as Kakashi's and they both look towards their sensei. The only teenagers that they know of that are like that are in _Ne_; in Root. Shimura Danzo's fraction that he'd begged and pleaded for; the faction of Konoha where Shimura took children and trained them to be emotionless shinobi without hearts, without morals.

Minato walks around Rin slowly and crouches next to the couch. Hiri follows his movements avidly, but stays seated in Kakashi's lap. He looks like he's trying his best not to bolt.

"Thank you Hiri, it's very helpful for us to know about things like this, so we can catch the people who hurt you," their sensei says soothingly, but Hiri's eyes immediately widen and he starts babbling in the most forceful tone of voice Rin has heard from him yet.

"_No!_ They- they'll take you to that place too, they'll hurt you and you'll die and the blood and feral-man _eats_ people-" he's clutching a hand to his chest, gasping and tripping over his words, and Rin can tell right away that he's starting to hyperventilate.

"Hiri," Minato tries to sooth the boy and Hiri surprises them all by lunging out of Kakashi 's arms and grabbing Minato around the neck in a hug.

"No! You can't! They kill everyone! He'll hurt you and then he'll _kiss_ you! You can't stop him!" Hiri is babbling and Rin can't make out the words anymore because they aren't in their language. She's also probably too shocked by Hiri touching Minato voluntarily to have understood his words even if he had still been speaking in Japanese.

"Hiri," Minato hugs him and rocks him. It's the first time that he's held Hiri and Rin can tell that he's shocked at how light the boy actually is. It's one thing to theoretically know Hiri weighs less than a packed rucksack, but to feel it physically is something else entirely.

Minato is whispering into the boy's ear and stroking Hiri's back and Hiri's words slow and change back into Japanese. He's still pleading with Minato to not go after his abusers but he's coherent again. Rin watches as he curls up in her sensei's arms and she watches as Minato cradles Hiri to his chest like something infinitely precious and thinks that Minato should have kids. He's good, careful, with Hiri and she thinks that his children would be the cutest kids ever.

Kakashi stands when Hiri's words stop entirely and the boy rests his head on Minato's shoulder, tired from his adrenaline rush.

"Sensei," Kakashi says, "I-" He stops and Rin can see that he's trying to make up an excuse to leave that hasn't got anything to do with Hiri because he doesn't want Hiri to think that he doesn't like him. He already loves Hiri, Rin can tell that about her usually stoic teammate, but he needs to leave before he does something regrettable in front of the child.

Minato grasps the situation immediately and asks Kakashi to go upstairs to fetch more of the fever-reducers Rin gave Hiri yesterday. Rin agrees with that incentive, since Hiri would have needed to take more of the medicine later today anyway.

Kakashi disappears up the stairs and Rin wonders briefly if she should go after him, before deciding against it. Kakashi was always one to need alone-time whenever he got upset.

"You can't go after him," Hiri mutters, sounding more pained than panicked. Rin doesn't know what to say, because they can't make false promises not to go after Hiri's abusers, since that would be a betrayal of the boy's trust. New relationships should never be built on lies, especially when one part is so very fragile.

"Hiri-kun, I promise that we won't do anything today, okay?" Minato says reassuringly, and Hiri seems confused. He leans back from Minato's arms to look at their sensei directly in the face - also a first - and sighs.

"People always promise things they don't mean," He says, and there is a tightness around his eyes that makes him look older than his three years. She wonders what people have promised him in the past, and comes up with several scenarios that make her want to go tear down a wall. "They say it won't hurt, but it does. They say they won't die, but they do. They say it's okay, but it's not. Sometimes I feel so tired..." There is a strange note in Hiri's voice that worries Rin.

"That's why I promised not to do anything today," Minato tells Hiri gently, "I can't promise to never go after them, but I can promise that today I won't." He cuddles Hiri closer yet and ducks his head down and kisses Hiri's forehead, "I'm Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure. It's my job, it's my duty to make sure that they won't ever hurt you or anyone else again. I'm supposed to help people. That's why I agreed to become Hokage."

Hiri sighs again, but doesn't protest Minato's words.

Rin can feel Kakashi at the top of the stairs and knows that the teenaged jounin wants to come down and see Hiri again, but he doesn't want to intrude on their sensei's bonding with Hiri. Kakashi can be surprisingly intuitive about feelings given that he's only started to let them take hold of him in the last year or so.

She waves him down because she knows that Hiri and Minato are far too involved with each other at the moment to notice Kakashi coming back downstairs.

Kakashi stands behind her and watches silently as Minato rocks Hiri back and forth and starts to hum a children's song to him under his breath. Kakashi reaches out and touches her shoulder and she silently vanishes down the hall to the back of the dining room - where they can still watch the pair - to talk.

"Rin," Kakashi sounds pained and Rin can't stand it, so she hugs him. It's the first time since Obito died that she's touched him and he's startled by it, though not distracted, "Rin, Hiri's going to leave us."

Rin snarls into Kakashi's shoulder, "No. He won't." She won't let anyone take Hiri from them.

"But, Seijun-san and Jiyuuri-san, don't they deserve to raise their grandchild?" Kakashi pulls away from her and Rin looks into his eye. He's completely serious she realizes and she closes her eyes.

He isn't exactly wrong either and it kills her to admit it, even to herself.

She doesn't want anyone to take Hiri away from them - at least not yet. They haven't had anywhere near enough time with him to even think about letting go. Obito was theirs, and she knows it's selfish, but she can't help but think that Hiri is theirs too. He belongs with them. He's started to trust them, has just started to open up, and it's too soon for him to leave.

"Not yet," She murmurs to Kakashi, and she isn't sure if she's pleading with or reassuring him. Kakashi says nothing, and they stand in silence for a long minute.

"We'll ask sensei what he thinks would be the appropriate course of action." She hides behind formal words, trusting that her sensei's decision will be the right one. There is too much else to do. And either way, she doubts anything much will happen today. It's basic procedure not to shuffle abused children around when they've begun trusting someone. She tells Kakashi as much and feels some of the tension drain away from his body.

When they walk back into the living room Hiri is still in Minato's lap and he is tracing the Konoha Leaf on Minato's hitai-ate, looking thoughtful. It's good to see Hiri remaining calm in their sensei's presence even without them there. She would like to hope that it means Hiri has finally found _some_ trust in Minato, but isn't sure if she can allow herself to hope for that even much.

She coughs into her hand delicately and Hiri looks up at her. He doesn't seem all that startled to see her, so she takes that as a good sign. "Hiri-kun? How are you doing? Do you feel alright?" She steps towards the two of them and Hiri bites his lip and lets her rest a hand on his forehead. She gestures to Kakashi for the medicine and he gladly gives it over to her.

Hiri's face lights up at the bottle and he reaches out for it, "That's the stuff that's sweet!" He exclaims happily and Rin tries to remember how to smile. He takes it from her hand and uncorks it enthusiastically and downs it all in one go.

Rin can tell that Minato wants to flinch. He remembers last night just as well as she does. He remembers hearing about 'lollies' and how they weren't sweet at all.

Something on Rin's mind keeps insistently poking at her and she wants to ask. Hiri's smile keeps her question at bay until Minato pins her with a look and she knows the can tell that she has a question.

"Hiri-kun," Rin takes the bottle back from Hiri to keep her hands busy, "You said that someone took your memories. How do you know he did that?"

Green eyes scan the room in jerky movements, as though Hiri is afraid that someone is going to pop out of nowhere and attack him and when he finally answers, his words cause her heart to miss several beats.

"I got them back when I died."

*****xxXXxx*****


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Five: _Hiri_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** Co-written by the two authors who make up _wife-chan_. We found that we have almost exactly the same tastes in fic and had to see if we could collab something :) This is our first try, so please be kind and let us know how we're doing! Thanks!

**Summary:** Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose _him_ too. Time travel. De-aged Harry. AU. WIP.

*****xxXXxx*****

There is complete silence for a long time after he says he died. He doesn't know why. It's not like it hurt when he died. It had hurt when he came back, when he woke up in the forest. There was pain then.

Namikaze-sama closes his eyes and breathes in and Hiri curls up into his chest. Namikaze-sama is nice. Nice like Padfoot is. He can't remember exactly who Padfoot is, but he knows that he likes Padfoot, that he wanted to live with Padfoot.

His mind was a lot clearer than before when he woke up this morning. He doesn't know why, but he can concentrate better and he understands more of what's going on.

He watches Kakashi-sama sit heavily on the floor and wonders why. It's not like death is that bad of a thing. There's something - _someone_ - that tells him death isn't that bad, that he doesn't have to worry about death.

"Hiri-kun?" Rin-sama asks him in a strange voice, "What do you mean by that?"

Hiri rests his cheek on Namikaze-sama's collarbone, "The snake-man killed me." He says. "He didn't want me anymore. I'd done what I was supposed to do so he killed me. Used a jutsu; unlocked my blank spots. It's all jumbled together now, I can't separate everything out." He tsks to himself, "I- I think that I'm trying." He thinks that when he was asleep he was sorting though some things but he doesn't know what.

"The snake-man," Namikaze-sama murmurs into his hair, "Killed you? Do you remember what jutsu he used?"

Hiri thinks about that for a moment. "There was green light." A sudden memory blooms in his mind and he shakes his head, "It was used on me before; when I was real little." A vision of woman with red hair dances across his mind and he knows who the woman is, "He killed Kaa-chan too."

Namikaze-sama's arms tighten around him and he struggles a bit, uncomfortable. "Hiri-kun, do you know what your mother's name is?"

"...no," He whispers. All he remembers of her is the red hair and green light and death. He doesn't want to remember her.

"Do... Do you have any memories of your father?" Namikaze-sama sounds like he can't breathe and Hiri reaches up and strokes his cheek.

"Tou-sama had black hair. Padfoot says I look like him."

There's complete silence again and Hiri wonders what it is that he's said that's wrong. He's always saying something wrong.

Rin-sama reaches out to him and pets his hair, "You do, Hiri-kun, you do look like your father."

Hiri's pleased to know that. The vague, nonsensical voice in his head is muttering bad words and Hiri tries his best to ignore it. He's not supposed to use words like that. He tries to smile up at Namikaze-sama and Namikaze-sama smiles back at him. Hiri thinks that the smile looks a little broken.

"Namikaze-sama? Why is your smile broken?" He has to ask because he can't ever remember seeing a smile that is quite so broken.

"It's not broken, Hiri-kun," Namikaze-sama tells him and though Hiri doesn't really believe him, he knows he isn't supposed to call people liars so he doesn't say anything. Namikaze-sama's arms are warm so he cuddles back into the gentle hold and nuzzles his face into the wide chest.

It's comfortable.

"Ah," Rin-sama murmurs and Hiri can barely hear her, "May I ask what else you remember about the man who tried to take your memories?"

Hiri thinks about the man, about _Him_, and finds a few new memories in his head, so he tells her what he knows, "Headmaster brought him. I didn't like him. He took pictures, lots of pictures. Made me pose for them." Rin-sama seems to choke but recovers so fast that Hiri isn't sure that of what he saw. Kakashi-sama and Namikaze-sama still haven't moved, "I had to stay after Maionii and Ron left once. He... that's one of the memories that he took away from me." He's can feel his face go a little green and he thinks that he might be sick - like Rin-sama said she was - and he covers his mouth with a thin hand, "Please don't make me talk about him anymore." He looks down at the floor, at Minato's sandals. He can hear someone leave the living room and when he looks up he finds that Kakashi-sama is gone. He looks up into Namikaze-sama's face, "But he always smiled at me," He confides in the nice man, "He liked me and treated me nice. That was the only time that he really hurt me and I don't think he wanted to hurt me, I just wasn't big enough for it not to hurt."

"What he did was wrong," Namikaze-sama tells him, reaching out and stroking Hiri's cheek with the tip of his finger. It feels nice and Hiri likes it. "I will never do that to you, I promise you."

"But-" Hiri frowns, not understanding exactly what's wrong, "I want you to like me."

"I don't need to have- I don't need to do that to you to like you," Namikaze-sama shakes his head.

Hiri stands up, out of Namikaze-sama's lap, and puts his hands on his hips and smiles up at the nice man, "Then I can clean! Oba-sama let me eat when I cleaned."

Namikaze-sama smiles a patient, pained smile. Rin-sama still has a funny look on her face, but then she tenses and opens her mouth to speak.

"Hiri-kun, you don't have to clean to get food to eat," Namikaze-sama speaks before Rin-sama can.

His face scrunches up as he looks at Namikaze-sama and he doesn't believe him. No one feeds anyone without getting something in return.

Namikaze-sama looks even more pained and Hiri is scared that he blond man has picked up on his not believing him. He fidgets and wonders how he could have been stupid enough to let the expression show. He wasn't supposed to not believe people; he was the one who had to be punished for telling lies, after all.

He glances down at his hand and sees Namikaze-sama follow the movement. Hiri hears his intake of breath and wonders if the man is angry because he had to be punished like this. When Namikaze-sama grasps his hand gently, angling the shameful letters towards himself, Hiri stills. He doesn't want Namikaze-sama to think that he lies and does other bad things he needs to be punished for a lot, because Hiri knows he tries to be as good as possible.

He's never sure if he's succeeding or not.

Hiri hears Rin-sama tell Namikaze-sama what the words mean and feels that scary feeling rising in the air again, like it did before. He tries to curl in on himself, not sure what he wants to ward off, but trying anyway. The feeling disappears immediately, and Hiri is relieved. It's like having been under cold water and coming up for fresh air and sunshine.

"Hiri-kun, this _Dororesu_ woman, what did she claim you lied about?" Namikaze-sama asks in a very calm voice that somehow sounds not-calm. Hiri isn't scared of that tone now, but he thinks that he could be. The voice in his head mutters something, and Hiri tries to tune in because it's important that he not disappoint Namikaze-sama. It's muffled, but there is something - _a blond boy, with staring, unseeing eyes_ - that he feels he should listen to, should know.

"Cedric," Hiri remembers the boy's name, suddenly, but not so much about who he is, just that he's dead and that it hurts to think about.

"Who is _Se-du-ri-ku_, Hiri?" Rin-sama asks gently and Hiri frowns. He's not sure he wants to say who Cedric was, because the voice in his head is sad, and that hurts a lot. Hiri doesn't want to hurt anyone. But Rin-sama is nice, and the voice isn't trying to make him not tell...

"Cedric was my friend, but then Wormtail killed him," Hiri mumbles into the hand Namikaze-sama isn't holding.

"Are any of your friends alive, Hiri-kun?" Rin-sama asks in a tone that sounds like she's trying not to cry, but she sounds angry too, so Hiri goes over to her and tugs lightly on her pants. She kneels in front of him and he takes her face in his small hands.

"No," His voice is flat and Hiri knows that he can't cry because even though they're dead, they'll be happier this time around.

That isn't how death is supposed to work, he knows that, but he _knows_ that they will be happier.

Rin-sama's face contorts and she has tears falling down her face. "Don't be sad, Rin-sama," He tells her and then he leans in and kisses her on the lips like he remembers Ron's mother kissing his friend.

Rin-sama pushes away from him frantically with wild looking eyes and a tiny cry of pain - Hiri is sure that he's kissed her wrong because he's sure that kisses weren't supposed to hurt - and Hiri is caught by Namikaze-sama before he hits the floor. Rin-sama starts talking really fast and Hiri has trouble understanding what she's trying to say to him, to Namikaze-sama, because her words are all jumbled together.

Something wet touches his shoulder and he looks up to see Namikaze-sama crying too and it's his tears on his shoulder that he can feel.

Hiri doesn't like that everyone is crying. He tugs on Namikaze-sama's sleeve and asks him to stop crying and tries to tell the nice man that he doesn't like people crying, that it's the dead that cry and he doesn't want them to be dead, he doesn't want to be left alone again, he doesn't want to have to fight anymore.

But both Rin-sama and Namikaze-sama continue to cry, and that makes it very hard for Hiri to calm down. Namikaze-sama starts to rock Hiri in a motion that could have been soothing, but mostly feels sad. Hiri grabs a hold of the man's shoulders, whispering apologies and trying to ignore the voice in his head that seems angry with him. It's all very confusing and Hiri feels scared because he doesn't know what's going on and what to do about it.

"Hiri, Hiri, Hiri," Namikaze-sama mumbles in his ear, stroking his hair carefully. "-you don't need to do that, okay?" he tells him, but Hiri doesn't understand what he means. _Kissing_, the voice whispers clearly, and Hiri flinches.

"No kissing?" He whispers to the nice man and Namikaze-sama shakes his head.

"No, no kissing, Hiri, you don't need to kiss us."

It's confusing. Hiri isn't sure what Namikaze-sama wants; he doesn't want Hiri to cook, or clean, and now no kissing. He wants to ask if hugging is okay, but Namikaze-sama is already hugging him, so he just curls up into the man's lap and nods.

He wonders if he's allowed to sleep with one of them. He'd spent time sleeping with Maionii and Ron.

The voice tells him not to ask so he doesn't.

Kakashi-sama comes back then, and Hiri looks up at the silver headed man. "Kakashi-sama," He says, "I can still hug you, right?"

"Yes!" Kakashi-sama almost yelps and Hiri smiles. He likes hugs. He's willing to put up with tears if he gets hugs.

Rin-sama has stopped crying, but she looks sad and Hiri wonders if it's his fault, because he kissed wrong.

"Rin-sama?" Hiri asks tentatively and she looks down at him. She smiles the same broken smile Namikaze-sama did, but Hiri doesn't say anything. In the back of his mind he has a feeling that he used to smile that kind of smile too, before he died.

"It's nothing, Hiri-kun," she says, nodding and looking like it's not nothing at all. He doesn't know what to say to her, so he turns toward Kakashi-sama, who looks like he's thinking very hard about something. Hiri is about to ask him what he's thinking when he speaks up on his own.

"Hiri, you said that someone told you that you look like your father," he looks at Hiri, who nods. Padfoot had said that a lot. So much that sometimes it had hurt, though he can't remember why.

"Padfoot said so lots." He squirms a bit in Namikaze-sama's hold, which is tightening around him. It feels a little uncomfortable.

"How did _Pa-du-fo-tto_ know your father?" Kakashi-sama asks with a weird note in his voice. Hiri wants to ask if he's in pain, but he knows he's never supposed to delay questions, so he answers instead.

"He was Tou-sama's friend." Kakashi-sama wrinkles his forehead and he seems confused.

"What does Padufotto look like?" Kakashi-sama's question seems very important so Hiri doesn't hesitate.

"He's about this big," Hiri holds out his hand just above where Namikaze-sama's waist would be if he were standing, "And he's black. He has shaggy hair and tattoos. He's a very big dog and he snarls, but it's playful, he's never hurt me." It's important that they know Padfoot never hurt him.

Kakashi-sama's eye brightens for some reason and Hiri smiles back at him. "A talking dog?"

"Yes. He was gone for a really long time, but then he came back and no one wanted him, but I did." Hiri pauses and rests his cheek on Namikaze-sama's shoulder, letting the nice man carry his weight, "Sensei said he was an... 'omen of death'?" Hiri frowns. He knows that Padfoot was called that, but he can recall that he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. He isn't sure why.

"Is Padfoot a Summons?" Kakashi-sama sits on the ground in front of Hiri and Namikaze-sama and since Hiri doesn't know what that is, he asks. Kakashi-sama explains that Summons can come and go with an offering of blood and Hiri doesn't remember blood, but he remembers Padfoot disappearing like mist once.

That seems to be what Kakashi-sama is looking for, because he's smiling and he's a little happier. Well, he seems a lot happier than Rin-sama and Namikaze-sama anyway, and he's happier than he was before he'd left the common room.

Kakashi-sama asks him if he likes dogs and Hiri shyly tells him that the only two nice dogs he knew were Padfoot and Fang. The silver headed man seems to get warmer and more pleased with every word Hiri says and soon enough Hiri is telling Kakashi-sama about Ripper and Oba-sama who watched. He tells Kakashi-sama that he likes big dogs, like Padfoot and Fang.

Kakashi-sama seems mad when Hiri mentions Ripper so Hiri doesn't say how much it hurt or how scared he was. Kakashi-sama doesn't look like he wants to hear Hiri whining about things like that. The voice grumbles in the back of his head, seeming to disagree, but Hiri pushes it away.

"Hiri-kun, would you like to meet one of my dog Summons sometime?" Kakashi-sama asks and Hiri thinks he seems hopeful, so he nods.

"Big dog?" he asks, just to be sure, and Kakashi-sama nods. Hiri is relieved and a little excited. It feels like he hasn't seen a big dog in a long time, and it hurts to think about. He has the sudden flash of Fang, dead on the ground with blood turning his brown fur red.

"Hiri?"

Hiri looks up to see Kakashi-sama's eye narrow. He doesn't look angry that Hiri drifted into memories, but Hiri feels like he should explain anyway. He tells Kakashi-sama that Fang is dead and that he wasn't like Padfoot, couldn't speak or turn misty like Padfoot did the last time he'd left. Kakashi-sama nods seriously, and his eye looks sad so Hiri pats him on the knee.

"Perhaps we should wait awhile to Summon anything, Kakashi," Namikaze-sama murmurs above him. His voice is tired and reluctant, like he doesn't want to say that. Perhaps he really wanted to meet Kakashi-sama's Summon too?

Kakashi-sama nods and then sits back on his haunches.

"I don't mind either way," Hiri insists. He doesn't mind waiting and he doesn't mind getting to see the dog now, but whatever they want to do is good with him.

Namikaze-sama ruffles his hair a little, and the motion feels familiar, somehow. Hiri stiffens anyway, but the other mutters reassurances in his mind, and he relaxes. Namikaze-sama has already removed his hand, though, and when Hiri looks up he has that same sad expression on his face that's he's had for a while now.

But when Namikaze-sama speaks again he seems calm. "Hiri-kun, can you tell me more about your friends?" he asks, and Hiri brightens. He loves his friends very much and it's nice to be able to talk about them.

"Ron had red hair and Maionii used to say he was too 'im-pul-sive'", Hiri begins, smiling, even when he trips a little over the last word. "Maionii was really smart and she read a lot, and she yelled at us when we didn't wanna read." He giggles at the sudden memory of Maionii in one of her rants.

"You can read?" Kakashi-sama asks and Hiri is surprised, but nods. Of course he can read! He wonders if Kakashi-sama thinks he's stupid and deflates a little. That's what Oba-sama used to tell him, he remembers.

"That's very good Hiri," Namikaze-sama comments softly and Hiri looks up, "I'm proud of you." Hiri feels himself stiffen, because that isn't something he hears often. Almost never. And it kind of makes him want to cry, but laugh too, at the same time. Instead, he just snuggles into the nice man even more, and hopes that he'll say that again sometime.

"Maionii made us read lots," He says and fiddles with Namikaze-sama's sleeve. "I miss them," he mumbles quietly, almost not wanting to say those words because it hurts both him and the other in his head. Especially the other.

"I understand, Hiri-kun. It's natural to miss someone who's gone." Namikaze-sama says and hugs him.

Hiri frowns a little. They're not 'gone' - not like Namikaze-sama means it - but the voice warns him not to say that, sounding almost scared, so instead Hiri says, "I wish I could be where they are." And he does, even if he likes it here.

Namikaze-sama's arms tighten around him and Hiri kind of wonders if one time, when one of them is hugging him, he'll die from lack of air because it seems that every hug he gets is tighter than the last one.

"No, no, Hiri-kun, you don't want to be with them."

"But I do," He insists and the Hokage shakes his head.

"We don't want you to be with them, we don't want to lose you from our lives, Little One. We want you to stay," He tells Hiri and nuzzles his black hair with his nose.

Hiri doesn't like being called 'Little One' and the other in his head seems to scoff. He knows he's little. He's always been the smallest of his age mates. "Don't want to be little," He mutters and Namikaze gives him a tiny squeeze.

"Sorry, Hiri-kun," He whispers and Hiri blinks in shock.

"Did- Did you just... _apologize_ to me?" He asks, shocked and a little bit scared. This is Namikaze-sama, this is Hokage-sama. This person shouldn't be apologizing to one such as him.

Rin-sama's been real quiet for a long time so it startles Hiri when she speaks up, "Yes Hiri-kun, he did. If someone does something that you don't like, they're supposed to apologize." She stands and brushes imaginary dust from her clothes, "Now, I believe that we've talked enough about painful things. What do you say to having," She pauses and looks at her watch and her eyes widen, "Lunch?"

"Lunch?" Namikaze-sama questions and Rin-sama nods.

"Yes, Minato-sensei; it's twelve-thirty."

"Really?" Namikaze-sama asks and he seems surprised. At the thought of food, Hiri's stomach twists a little. He's not used to eating more than one meal a day, but he knows it'd be rude to say that.

Namikaze-sama hoists him up to sit on his hip as he stands and Hiri holds on tightly. Nobody has ever carried him like this before and it's nice, but also a little scary. Rin-sama walks ahead into the kitchen and Hiri doesn't know if he should ask to make the food or not. The last time he'd tried to help they hadn't liked it for some reason.

He's put down on the same chair as before, and then the nice man goes to help Rin-sama while Kakashi-sama sits down in the seat next to Hiri's. The table isn't set, and Hiri wonders if he's allowed to ask to set it. He thinks that he must be, since Kakashi-sama is just sitting there.

He jumps down from the chair and Kakashi-sama turns to look at him. Hiri pauses, but he doesn't say anything, so Hiri edges around the table in the stove's direction. "Um, Namikaze-sama, where do you keep your plates and things like that?"

The blonde man turns around, looking first at the empty chair and then at Hiri. He smiles, but Hiri can't help but watch the spatula in his hand. It's mostly out of habit, because he doesn't think Namikaze-sama would throw the spatula at him in the middle of cooking, but the nice man sees his gaze and puts it down. Hiri isn't sure what to make of that, though Other seems to think it means it's not dangerous, at least at the moment.

"Hiri-kun, you don't need to set the table," he says gently and though Hiri would like to insist, this is the Hokage, so that might be an order. He won't go against an order unless he absolutely has to, unless someone would get hurt if he doesn't. So he nods a little, unhappily, and goes back to seat himself. He doesn't like having nothing to do; doesn't like feeling useless.

He watches Kakashi-sama set out plates and utensils and sees him glance in his direction. Hiri wonders if Kakashi-sama wants him to help anyway, but the other mutters negatively in the back of his mind, so Hiri just looks up uncertainly.

Rin-sama and Namikaze-sama are talking quietly with each other so Hiri turns to Kakashi-sama, "Kakashi-sama?"

"Hai, Hiri-kun?" All of Kakashi-sama's attention is focused on Hiri since he's stopped moving around the kitchen with place settings and Hiri feels a little intimidated, but he forages on.

"I really want to help set the table. I don't like not having a proper place in a household."

Kakashi-sama's eye curves upside down as though his smile is pushing his cheek up and Hiri narrows his eyes, "Hiri-kun, you have a designated position. You are a child. That is your position."

"That tells me nothing," Hiri tells him, a little helplessly. He doesn't know how to be a child, doesn't know what he's supposed to do as 'the child' in a household. He's been a cook, a cleaner, a gardener, a student, a freak, a nobody, an abnormality, a scapegoat, a savior - though he can't really remember what he saved - and other things; but he's never been a 'child'. It's a little spooky for him to consider. "I don't know what a child is supposed to do."

Kakashi-sama bites his lip under the mask and Hiri only knows that because he's seen the movement under the grey material. "I don't know either," Kakashi-sama confides in him quietly as the smell of thick mushroom soup fills the air in the kitchen.

Hiri smiles at his friend - at least, he hopes Kakashi-sama will be his friend - and reaches out to pat his cheek, "I guess we'll just have to learn together?"

"I guess so," Kakashi-sama smiles back and Hiri feels something warm and fuzzy curling in his stomach and he remembers this feeling from befriending Ron.

Hiri reaches out and Kakashi-sama takes his hand in his. The fuzzy feeling in Hiri's stomach intensifies and his smile cracks and breaks.

"Ka- Kakashi-sama?" His voice wavers and Kakashi kneels by his chair.

"Hiri-kun, you can call me Kakashi-nii, or even Nii-san. I'm not important enough to be called 'sama'." Kakashi's face is kind, what Hiri can see of it, and he likes it.

"But you're important to me, Kakashi-sama," Hiri tells him, "Very important," He whispers. Kakashi-sama draws him into a loose hug and Hiri lays his face against the cloth covered neck and smells Kakashi-sama's personal scent. He smells like dogs and steel and trees. Hiri likes it.

"You're very important to me too, Hiri," he whispers in Hiri's ear. It should have scared him, because the last time someone whispered something to Hiri, there had been lots of pain afterwards, but somehow this feels nice. When they separate again, Hiri can't help but smile. It's been a very long time since he felt like this; not since Ron and Maionii.

Rin-sama and Namikaze-sama join them at the table and Hiri's smile dims. It's hard to keep his smile around the nice blond man, even if he hasn't done anything to hurt Hiri. He remembers the bad man who took his memories and how he had touched him and hurt him. The other mumbles something soothing and Hiri tries to understand what he's saying, but it's hard. The words glide away, and Other feels... he feels like Namikaze-sama's smile looks; sad and tired but trying to be reassuring.

Hiri rubs his forehead, feeling a headache approaching. He's not very hungry, but picks up the spoon to the side of the bowl Rin-sama places in front of him. He won't be rude.

The soup is good, but Hiri can hardly hear the others talk over the slowly intensifying pain in his head. He eats a few spoonfuls, but then his stomach does a twist and Hiri thinks that they probably wouldn't forgive it if he threw up on the table. Better the lesser rudeness, so he puts the spoon down and rubs his forehead.

The motion feels very familiar, though he's not sure why. The other calls him from the back of his mind and he sounds like he's in pain too, or maybe he's panicking? It's hard to tell. Hiri's vision wavers and it's like looking through heated air.

Hands grab his shoulders and he flinches away from the burning heat. He can't stand to be touched right now, flesh against his, people in his space.

He sees flashes behind his closed eyes, there's someone standing over him and he looks up through blurry eyes and blond hair is the feature he sees first.

He won't scream, not after the first time, not after what happened then. It hurt the first time, and the second time but after that it wasn't so bad. There's no white mask under the blond hair and he reaches out with trembling fingers to stroke the high cheek bone. Blue eyes. The eyes aren't supposed to be blue, they're supposed to be grey. The blond man had grey eyes behind the skull mask.

Pain courses through his body and he convulses; his head hits the floor really hard and he doesn't cry out. He's had a fractured skull before; it's not so bad really. It helps to blur the pain and the memories.

_"Harry, I'm sorry,"_ A blond teenager whispers to him and a hand touches his chest and then Hiri grabs at the wrist. He doesn't want Draco touching him now, not in the small windowless room that he's resided in for so long.

"No, please, Draco, please," Hiri watches with tears in his eyes when Draco leans back, leaves him on the cool stone floor and turns as a taller man with white-blond hair comes in the room. He's holding a cane.

The cane with a snake's head comes down on his legs and he doesn't scream. There's a laugh and the long hair gets tangled as the taller man brings the cane down again and again. He wishes that Draco would save him, would stop watching and save him. Draco wasn't a friend, but he wasn't supposed to be an enemy.

When the man finishes, Hiri can see his blood on the floor and he can't feel his legs.

_"Clean him up, Draco." _The man leaves.

_"I'm sorry, Harry,"_ Draco whispers to him, whispers in his ear, _"But he's my father. I can't go against my own father."_

"Draco," Hiri murmurs, "I forgive you." He knows what it's like to go against family. He learned that lesson well.

_"Forgive me for this too, please,"_ Draco draws out his wand and waves it at Hiri's head, _"Obliviate."_

Suddenly Hiri is looking into blue eyes again and Namikaze-sama is holding him and someone has his head, holding it still so that it doesn't hit the floor again.

There are scratches on Namikaze-sama's face and Hiri is too exhausted to care that he was probably the one to put them there.

"Hiri? Hiri-kun? Can you hear me, Hiri?" Namikaze-sama is repeating his name in a panic and Hiri finally relaxes in his arms.

"He didn't mean to," Hiri tells him lethargically. Draco didn't mean to, it's true. "He never wanted to, but his father, the man who raised him, told him to," Hiri blinks and Namikaze-sama's blue eyes widen and he touches the strong face above him gently, soothing the scratches that he put there and he watches as they heal under his fingertips, "You can't hurt Draco because he only did what he was told. He couldn't say no. Not after so many years under that man. Please, don't hurt him."

That's the last thing that Hiri remembers and darkness intrudes into his vision and as he passes out into the comforting darkness and into the other's reassuring presence, he wonders what Namikaze-sama will do to Draco.

****xXx****

Hiri wakes up again at the sound and vibration of a door slamming shut. He feels groggy and strange - like something in his head has shifted or moved somehow. It doesn't hurt anymore, it just feels strange. It takes him several moments to realize that his thoughts feel a bit less muddled than before, and then another moment to realize that the other in the back of his head doesn't feel as unreachable as before.

Hiri tries to touch the presence, but the other flinches away and there a wave of pain hits him, making him groan. He doesn't know why Other is upset, but thinks it must have something to do with Draco. Hiri can't quite remember who Draco is anymore, just that he wasn't as bad as that memory had made it seem. He hadn't wanted to be bad; he just hadn't had any choice. Hiri wonders if the other thinks it's a betrayal, and wonders if maybe it is a betrayal. He's not sure; he just doesn't want the other to hurt.

"Hiri? Hiri?" Kakashi-sama's voice forces him to open his eyes, and though the light in the room is dim, it hurts his eyes. It takes a moment for him to see Kakashi-sama, but when he does, he sits up. Or tries to, anyway. It doesn't go so well, because a wave of twistyness makes him lose his balance half-way up.

Kakashi-sama catches him, and Hiri can't help but flinch when the other cries out at the touch. He's not sure if he's crying out too, or if the other is just sending stuff through him, accidentally. He blinks when Kakashi-sama stiffens, looking worried. Hiri doesn't like that expression on him; doesn't like that expression on anyone he cares about.

He's about to ask what's wrong, when another voice drifts up the stairs together with Namikaze-sama's. Hiri can feel himself tensing up even further, his heart pumping in his chest so much it hurts.

"Shhh, Hiri, it's okay, nobody is going to hurt you," Kakashi-sama whispers, helping him sit up properly and holding him until he doesn't feel like he's about to throw up. The other seems to calm too and become more aware. Hiri isn't exactly sure how he can tell what Other is feeling and acting like, but he's glad he can.

"Kakashi?" Namikaze-sama's voice comes through the door in a whisper and Kakashi-sama loosens his hold on Hiri, waiting. Hiri holds his breath, also waiting, though he doesn't know for what. "Kakashi, can Shikaku-san and I come in for a moment?" Namikaze-sama asks and Hiri feels nervousness well up in his throat.

Kakashi-sama must be able to feel his nervousness because he doesn't answer Namikaze-sama; he turns back to Hiri.

"Shhh, it's alright, you know Minato-sensei; he won't hurt you. I won't let Shikaku-san hurt you." Kakashi-sama bites his lip, "Can they come in?"

Feeling bolstered by the other being closer and Kakashi-sama protecting him, Hiri nods. He can do this; Kakashi-sama won't let anyone hurt him. Kakashi-sama has even kept Namikaze-sama from him and Namikaze-sama is Kakashi-sama's Hokage. "Okay." His voice is really small, but Kakashi-sama hears him.

"Come in, Sensei," Kakashi-sama says and the door opens.

Hiri can see two tall men in the doorway. Namikaze-sama enters first and is followed by a darker skinned man with brown hair and scars on his face. Hiri wonders where he got the scars. It kind of looks like Feral-man's work, just not as extensive as most of his work.

"Namikaze-sama?" Hiri asks, trying to draw himself upright so he can sit without Kakashi-sama's hands supporting him.

"Hiri-kun," Namikaze-sama kneels a foot from the bed that Hiri is on and the other man kneels as well, "I'm glad to see that you're awake. Are you feeling better?"

"...yes," Hiri ducks his head with a blush. He can remember passing out after asking the Hokage not to hurt Draco. Draco wasn't at fault, so Namikaze-sama shouldn't hurt him.

"That's good," Namikaze-sama whispers and then gestures to the man behind him, "This is Nara Shikaku. He's one of my most trusted people."

If Namikaze-sama trusts Nara-sama, Hiri thinks that he can at least be polite, "Hello, Nara-sama."

Nara-sama doesn't react. He seems a little lazy really, once Hiri looks him over again.

"Shikaku-san, this is Uchiha Hiri." Namikaze stops and frowns, "Can you see him?" He asks. Nara-sama gives him a look that Hiri doesn't understand - although it looks like the look Maionii would give him when he asked her a stupid question - and Namikaze continues frowning, though he tries to smile at Hiri. Hiri thinks that the name makes the man's eyes widen suddenly and Hiri frowns. The name that Namikaze-sama gave him is familiar, but not quite right. He won't correct the man though, because he doesn't know what is correct.

"Hiri-kun," Nara-sama bows his head to him just a bit, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hiri looks up to Kakashi-sama than back to Nara-sama, "Likewise, Nara-sama."

"Hiri-kun," Namikaze-sama brings his attention back to the Hokage, "Would you be willing to show Nara-sama your eyes?"

"But," Hiri opens his mouth then closes it then opens it again, "But you can already see them," He tells the Hokage and Namikaze-sama smiles at him, bright and warm.

"You're other eyes, Hiri-kun. The red ones."

"Oh," Hiri's lips twist up in a grimace then he nods slowly. The other doesn't want him to use his eyes, but is willing to let him. It's for Namikaze-sama after all. Hiri blinks and then everything is very clear and he can see _everything_. "These ones?"

"Yes," Namikaze-sama's smile dims slightly, "Yes, the sharingan."

Nara-sama is gapping, his eyes wide as he stares at Hiri, "Sharingan? The boy can't be more than three."

"Hiri is three years, two months old." Namikaze-sama stands and waits for Nara-san to stand as well. "It's good to see you feeling better," He tells Hiri and herds Nara-sama out the door, "Thank you for showing Shikaku-san your eyes."

"Your welcome," Hiri mutters and falls back into Kakashi-sama's waiting arms. He's still so tired and he doesn't understand why but he lets his eyes close again and Kakashi-sama tucks him back under the warm blanket. Hiri snuggles down into it and reaches out a hand. Kakashi-sama takes his tiny hand in his own medium hand.

"You were very brave," Kakashi-sama tells him gently and Hiri nods.

"I... I feel better. I don't know what happened, but it was a memory. One that was taken. It just came back."

"I see," Kakashi-sama nods, "Don't worry about it, Hiri-kun," He tells him and Hiri opens his eyes to see Kakashi-sama smiling that curved eye smile, that real smile, "You'll get better."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sama."

"Go back to sleep," Kakashi-sama whispers into his ear and Hiri drifts lightly. He's not sleeping, but he isn't awake either.

When Rin-sama comes in the room, Hiri wakes fully and he sits up. He feels a lot better, both physically and mentally and he knows that the sleep is helping. The other tells him quietly that he can work on getting their memories back faster when Hiri isn't thinking or worrying or freaking out and Hiri stifles a giggle.

Rin-sama smiles at the little laugh that escapes him and he claps a hand over his mouth, mortified.

"Hiri-kun?" She asks him, "What's making you happy?"

The other warns him not to say anything about him, so he doesn't, "I was just thinking about Nara-sama. He looks," Hiri glances around the room cautious for anyone watching because he shouldn't say something like Other wants him to say, "Lazy." He whispers to her and she giggles with him.

"Shikaku-san is probably the laziest shinobi around," She tells him and he can't help but laugh with her. He likes the way that she lights up when he laughs, so he tells himself that he'll laugh more. The other is pleased with his resolution and encourages him.

"How are you feeling," She asks him after they've stopped laughing and Hiri shrugs one shoulder awkwardly.

He doesn't know what she wants to hear and he wants to make her happy, so it's hard to think of a way to put it. "I'm much better," He finally says calmly, "My head doesn't hurt as much as it did before and I can think clearer."

Rin-sama frowns and raises a hand slowly and Hiri tracks its progress towards him. He doesn't flinch - which is hard for him to manage but it makes Rin-sama happy if he doesn't flinch - and she rests her palm on his forehead, her fingers in his hair. "You're head hurt before?" She asks.

There is a tingling sensation and she frowns harder and then hides her frown from him.

"I had trouble concentrating. I was messing up Namikaze-sama with _Him_."

She flinches and he wonders what he's said now that makes her do that.

"I'm sorry, Hiri," she says and her nose scrunches up the way Maionii's used to when she was trying not to cry. Hiri doesn't know what she's apologizing for, doesn't know what to say to make her feel better. He tries to smile, but isn't sure if he's doing it correctly, because his cheeks hurt when he does it.

Kakashi-sama shifts to the side and Hiri looks back at him questioningly.

"Hiri-kun, would you like to go out to the backyard and get some fresh air?" he asks, eye crinkling into that half-moon shape. Hiri doesn't think he looks like he's smiling this time though. He nods and untwists his legs from the covers, standing up carefully. There is still a trace of dizziness in his legs, but it disappears quickly.

Kakashi-sama holds out his hand slowly, and Hiri doesn't flinch from him either, though it's both harder and easier with Kakashi-sama than it is with Rin-sama. He takes the hand awkwardly, not sure how to hold properly, and lets Kakashi-sama lead him out of the room.

When they reach the door in the kitchen that leads to the little porch outside, Hiri sees that the sky is blue and purple and thinks it's very pretty. He thinks something really nice once happened at a sunset, but he can't remember what it was. But that's all right, because Kakashi-sama puts him down at the edge of the porch and the breeze feels really good on his bare feet.

He brushes his toes over the grass and it tickles, and then Kakashi-sama and Rin-sama sits down beside him and Hiri thinks that maybe he can make new good sunset memories.

They watch the setting sun together and Hiri contemplates how long he was sleeping. He's still tired, even after his long nap and the other tells him that it was the memory. The other feels sorry for sorting the new memories when he was awake and Hiri tells him that it's okay.

Kakashi-sama takes his hand again and Hiri smiles up at him. The silver headed man asks him if he likes sunsets and Hiri tells him that he does. Rin-sama is smiling too now, and her hand is stroking the back of his head. The tingling sensation is back and Hiri giggles when it tickles his neck. Rin-sama apologizes and Hiri shrugs the apology off. He doesn't mind being made to laugh, not when it makes Kakashi-sama happy.

Hiri lets his mind drift as he leans against Kakashi-sama's side and his strong arm encircles his shoulders. He's really comfortable here, now, in this place with them. He's happy that he's found the rest of his family.

He doesn't remember his other family. The other voice in his head murmurs about things he can sort of understand and he sees flashes of people again. There's a woman who could change what she looked like. She had a son. Just a little baby. Ron and Maionii took Teddy in, he thinks as he smiles. Draco had a child too. A small blond baby that Hiri would play with.

How he managed to lift a baby when he's so tiny now is a question that his overworked mind doesn't comprehend, so he shoves that thought to the side, just like the confusion he feels about playing with Draco after remembering his new memory. It doesn't matter right now.

Rin-sama is humming again and Hiri reaches out to her and she takes his other hand.

There's a presence at his back and he knows that Namikaze-sama is watching them. Hiri tries to remember anyone else who was blond so that he stops thinking of _Him_ when he sees the Hokage.

The only blonds he can think of are Draco and his father. And the nice blond man with plants. He shudders minutely when his mind brings up a brief flash of a huge man standing over him and locking him in the cupboard under the stairs. He forces that thought away and focuses back on an image of the plant man.

He wonders what that man's name was. He knew that the man with the plants was calm and quiet and brave and always there for him.

_'Neville,_' Other whispers to him and he repeats the word out loud quietly. Kakashi-sama squeezes his shoulders and asks him who Neviru is.

The way that Kakashi-sama says the name is wrong, but Hiri just goes with it, like he's done with every other name that his new _- family? -_ guardians have said differently. He doesn't want to stand out.

"Neviru," It takes Hiri two tries to get the name out like Kakashi-sama says it, but he wants to fit with them, wants to be like them, "He is a nice blond man. Not like _Him_. Neviru is nice. He likes plants." Hiri smiles, "He's brave too, he protected me. He got hurt for it, but he likes me. He," Hiri closes his eyes but it doesn't help him erase the image of Neviru wearing the pointed hat that talked and getting burned, "He killed the snake-man's snake. A piece of his soul," Hiri's voice drops to a whisper, "He used poison and a sword."

"That's impressive," Kakashi-sama smiles down at him, "Neviru-san protected you?"

"From the snake-man and the hooked-nose man. Well," Hiri amended, playing idly with a loose string on Kakashi-sama's cuff, "He tried. It didn't really stop them, but he delayed them."

"Do you know where Neviru-san is now?" Namikaze-sama asks and Hiri finds it much easier to handle Namikaze-sama around him when he thinks of Neviru at the same time.

"He was set on fire," Hiri giggles and all three people stare at him. "He didn't die, he laughed," Hiri giggles again as he explains, "Neviru killed the snake after he was on fire. He fought and lived."

"Do you know where he is now?" Namikaze-sama asks again, more intent this time.

Hiri waves the question aside, "He's dead too. Everyone I know is dead now." He looks at Rin-sama and Namikaze-sama with a shy smile, tugging at Kakashi-sama's arm, holding him close so that he wouldn't leave, "Except you, but I already told you that."

He thinks that everyone is much happier with him here rather than where he was. It's nice to be included somewhere that he likes people. The school that he lived in, his second home, was nice to be at most of the time. He'd had a lot of good times there.

Bad times as well and they over shadowed the good times right now. He didn't know why since there were more good times than there were bad times. Maybe it's the return of a bunch of bad memories drawing out all the other bad things. Maybe when Other was done with his head, done with the memories he would calm down and feel better.

"I know that you just got out of bed, Hiri-kun," Namikaze-sama said as the sun vanished beneath the skyline, "But I think that it's bed time."

"Okay," Hiri doesn't put up a fuss. He never put up a fuss when he was sent to bed. It's just not who he is.

Kakashi-sama gathers him up in his arms after Rin-sama brushed a hand over his hair and carries him up the stairs. Rin-sama calls out a goodnight to him before he vanishes from sight.

The bed has been made and Hiri wonders if Namikaze-sama is always cleaning. He'd have to let the nice man know that he could do his own cleaning so Namikaze-sama wouldn't have to do it.

Kakashi-sama put him down and Hiri stripped out of the clothing he'd been wearing all day. He'd been warm the night before and he didn't want to be too warm again. Besides, he could see extra clothing folded neatly at the end of his bed and knew that he didn't have to wear the dirty clothes again and again without cleaning them.

Kakashi-sama pulled his vest off and huddled down in the other mattress - _futon_ - and curled up under the blanket. Hiri watched though lidded eyes at his friend, as Kakashi-nii shifted on the futon. Then he shifted again. And again.

He must be lonely, Hiri concludes so he crawls onto Kakashi's futon under the blanket because he wants to sleep with him, wants to keep him company. He used to sleep with Ron and Maionii all the time. They had been in a tent.

And he hugs Kakashi, because hugs are okay, then Kakashi goes kind of stiff in his arms and Hiri doesn't understand why.

"Kakashi-sama?" He questions in a whisper, "I just want to hug you."

"That's okay, Hiri-kun," Kakashi-sama puts his arm around Hiri and Hiri snuggles in, nuzzling the man's chest.

"Kakashi-sama?" Hiri wonders out loud, "Could- Could I sleep with you tonight? Would you like that?" Maionii must have had to tell him a million times that he has to ask before he crawls into bed with her or Ron so that they can sleep. Maionii told him he didn't understand 'social conventions' but Hiri can't think big words right now because he's so tired.

So instead, he reaches up, wraps his arms around Kakashi-sama's neck - and Kakashi-sama seems to be very quiet, Hiri doesn't really like that - and starts to kiss his cheek. He always kissed Maionii's cheeks, but then he remembers that he's not supposed to kiss anymore.

"How are we going to sleep together without kissing?" He asks in a weary voice. It was a _habit_ to kiss Maionii's cheek and then sleep in between her and Ron. Kakashi-sama is suddenly completely still and he's staring at Hiri with both eyes wide open, one grey and one red with sharingan and Hiri cocks his head to the side, "Kakashi-sama?"

That horrible feeling of wanting to cower away from Kakashi-sama appears and it's the first time that Hiri's felt the full effects. Kakashi-sama starts keening in a really high pitched voice and Hiri rolls away from him and stumbles from the bed, curling up in the corner.

It feels like the misty black shadows that steal souls.

Hiri doesn't notice anything outside of his little personal bubble of fear so when the other in the back of his head prods him urgently to get up, he's surprised to see that Kakashi-nii is gone. The door isn't all the way closed, so he sneaks very quietly across the room to look through the crack outside to the hallway.

He's just in time to see Namikaze-sama backhand Kakashi-nii with enough force to send the silver haired man to the floor.

Rage fills Hiri and he steps out of the room, fury cloaking him like a robe of power and he stalks angrily between the two figures.

Kakashi-nii has always been so nice to him. No one hurts his friends.

"Back off," Hiri snarls at the Hokage and Namikaze stares at him. Hiri gathers his power in his hands and the wind is whipping around him like mad and his hair is swirling around his head. Hiri can see so clearly and he knows that he must have started to use his sharingan. "No one hurts Kakashi-nii without going through me first," He says in a completely calm voice and Hiri is startled to realize that he isn't the one talking.

It's the voice in the back of his head, it's speaking through him and that scares him until the voice tells him that they're protecting Kakashi-sama and he lets _Other_ continue speaking through him.

"Hiri-kun?" Namikaze seems startled, more startled than before and Hiri ignores him. He doesn't need to be here for this. _Other_ has it under control.

"I said," Other speaks and Hiri doesn't like the way his small voice is suddenly scary but Hiri is comforted by a feeling that's like a warm blanket wrapping around him and keeping him safe, "No one. Hurts. Kakashi."

"I didn't hurt Kakashi, Hiri-kun," Namikaze says and even Hiri doesn't believe him.

"You hit him." Other isn't taking this well, but Hiri is still in that warm embrace and he doesn't mind letting Other control this. He's been so tired of not knowing what to do or say that it's nice to just let go.

"He wasn't breathing," Namikaze tries to explain and Other slashes Hiri's hand down in an angle. Hiri didn't know that Other could control his body too, but again, he just doesn't care right now.

Namikaze shuffles forward and Other glares at him, "If he isn't breathing, then you give him air; you don't hit someone because they aren't breathing."

"Hiri-kun, he was in shock. Because of mental anguish," Namikaze lowers his eyes to the person behind Hiri and Other steps in to block his view.

"Never touch him like that again, do you understand me?" Other growls and Namikaze raises an eyebrow. Hiri doesn't like that look and he begs Other to let go, let him take control again.

Other asks if he feels up to it and Hiri nods. Other reluctantly agrees and then Hiri's body sort of collapses as his knees fold under him. Namikaze catches him before he hits the ground and Hiri curls up in his arms.

"I'm sorry," He whispers and Namikaze pets his hair. He wonders if he's going to be punished for what Other did.

It wouldn't be the first time that he's been punished for something that he didn't do but he's not mad at Other because they, because Other was protecting Kakashi-nii. He'll take the punishment as long as Kakashi-nii doesn't have to.

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**Even if we don't respond, your reviews are our motivation and each and every one of them are appreciated to the point of ridiculousness.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: **Obito's Legacy, Chapter Six: _Kakashi_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** Sorry for the month wait. *winces* But we were writing other stuffs that we are going to and have been posting, so you didn't really lose any time if you read our other fics :) This is also a shorter chapter, but don't worry, we aren't slowing down yet!

**Summary:** Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose _him_ too. Time travel.

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Kakashi's mind is completely blank. He can't think. He can't feel.

He can't even breathe.

Hiri asked to sleep with him. Hiri asked if he wanted to have sex with him. Hiri wanted to kiss him.

Complete and utter rage fills Kakashi and he can't contain it because his mind is so locked up that he can't feel the rage filling the room, filling the house.

He doesn't _feel/see/hear_ Hiri crawl away from him with tears streaming down his face and he doesn't see the child curl up in the corner of the room and start rocking back and forth, silent, as though Kakashi wouldn't see him if he didn't make any noise.

He vaguely feels hands grab at him and pull him off of the futon. He doesn't register who it is, but they drag him from the room he's in and out into the hallway.

His vision is going dark and his lungs are burning with a desperate need for oxygen and his pupils are far too dilated for him to see anything, never mind the hand that's drawn back and then rushing towards his face.

Kakashi comes back to himself lying on the ground, looking up from the floor at the naked backside - decorated in horrific scars - of a furious Hiri. Hiri, who is standing before him, protecting him from Minato, wind blowing around him and ruffling his hair and there is an odd glow around him.

Whatever power Hiri is tapping, it's not chakra.

Hiri, who is afraid of Minato, is standing naked in between the two shinobi and _barking orders_ at Minato to never touch Kakashi like that again.

His heart clenches with love for the little boy, and fear. He knows that Minato isn't going to do anything to Hiri, but the voice that Hiri is speaking in, the way he says their names, it's not Hiri.

It's someone else using Hiri's mouth to speak.

He loves Hiri for loving him enough to try to protect him. He fears for Hiri because it's beginning to look like Hiri is so broken that he's split his mind into two for his own protection.

Suddenly, without any warning, Hiri's knees give out from under him and his body slumps and Minato is there to catch him before he hits the floor. Hiri whispers to Minato a soft apology.

Kakashi draws himself to his knees and crawls towards the pair. Minato's head is ducked low and he's cradling Hiri like the boy might break in his hands with a single wrong move and Hiri's hands are tangled up in the folds of Minato's yukata, his knuckles white.

"Hiri?" Kakashi asks, afraid that it's not Hiri who's in control of the boy's body.

"Kakashi-nii?" Hiri looks up from Minato's shoulder and Kakashi is relieved beyond words that it is Hiri who is in control, "I... I said something wrong, didn't I?" He asks and Kakashi starts to shake his head, but can't bring himself to do it. Hiri is right after all, he has said something wrong, but he may not know why it was wrong to ask what he did.

Kakashi's hand lifts slowly and he settles it on Hiri's thin shoulder, "Hiri," He tries again to say something but his throat closes up around the words and he can't help but gasp for air.

"I- I just wanted to make you not-lonely. Maionii and Ron and me, we all used to sleep in one bed. No one was lonely when we were all together," Hiri tells him and Kakashi blinks, startled at the explanation. This is the first _full_ explanation that Hiri was giving without leaving anything out. There was no conjecture to be made from his words this time, "I kissed Maionii on the cheeks before we went to sleep. She told me I had to ask before crawling into bed with them. Even on really cold nights. They were really warm. They'd hug me all night. I wasn't lonely with them and I just didn't want you lonely..."

As Hiri babbled on, Kakashi realized that he'd made a horrible mistake. Hiri saw Maionii and Ron as his family, as his sister and brother. Hiri was starting to see him as family, had wanted to help him like his family had helped him.

He hadn't been offering sex, he'd been offering familial companionship.

The hard, smothering knot in Kakashi's chest loosens and finally the air feels clean enough to breathe. He feels Minato-sensei relax a little, sees tension drain from the man's shoulders. But not completely, because he surely noticed the shift in Hiri's expressions the way Kakashi has. Probably even more so, since Minato would have been able to see the boy's eyes.

Kakashi wonders what he saw in those eyes, what happened to split Hiri this way. Oh, he knew very well the mental disorders that could come from childhood trauma. He had seen some of them face-to-face in the hospital Minato-sensei made him stay in for a few weeks of observation after Obito died. Some of them had scared him, though he hadn't admitted that. There was something horrifying about broken people; maybe because he sometimes thought he could see those same things in his own reflection.

They were mirrors of what Kakashi could have been - perhaps still has the potential to become - and that frightened him. He needed this life; needed it to take care of what was left of Obito - _a promise to watch the future from his gifted eye_ - and to take care of Rin and Hiri.

When Kakashi breaks out of his thoughts, Minato has procured a new shirt and trousers for Hiri to wear. He doesn't look like he wants Hiri to sleep again this morning until they've had a conversation about what happened, which isn't surprising. Hiri is wearing the most distant expression Kakashi has seen on him yet and he feels terror threaten to choke him again, but manages to swallow it back down.

It won't do Hiri any good if Kakashi has another violent reaction, no matter how edgy he's feeling. Hiri comes first. His life belongs to Hiri, and to Obito in Hiri.

"Hiri-kun?" Minato-sensei asks gently and Hiri looks up at the blond man with eyes still a million miles away. Kakashi is almost surprised that his sensei manages not to flinch at that distant look.

"...Yes, Namikaze-sama?" Hiri is quiet, even quieter than he usually is, and there is something in his tone that reminds Kakashi of the other voice. Just a shade of something - unfamiliar, older, deader - over Hiri's much younger voice.

"Shall we go sit in the living room?" Minato asks calmly, but Kakashi can see the remounting tension ripple in his sensei's arms and legs when he stands from his crouch. He lifts Hiri up to his feet cautiously, like he's expecting the boy to run or do something that he might need to move faster to stop. Not something threatening, not really, because Kakashi recognizes that stance from when Minato-sensei had sparred with him in one of his despairing post-Obito moods.

Hiri nods, slowly, like he has to take time to make the decision, or like he's not quite sure he heard Minato correctly. The blond man puts a light hand to Hiri's shoulder and starts herding him towards the living room, and Kakashi follows like a shadow.

Hiri doesn't sit down on the couch when Minato gestures for him to. Kakashi studies Hiri and he can see that the boy's showing that he's had some training for fighting. Not taijutsu, no, but something; a hand-to-hand combat of some kind.

It's the way the child holds himself as he stands next to the couch.

Hiri may still be in those green eyes, but he's sharing with someone else. Kakashi can see that now.

So can Minato.

"Hiri," Minato sits in one of the chairs facing the couch and his blue eyes are dark with forced calm. Kakashi wonders how his sensei can be so calm asking questions. He wouldn't even know where to start for fear of scaring Hiri.

Then again, Minato is the Hokage. He's had to face terrible situations before that had no good outcome. This situation with Hiri will have no easy answer and no easy was passed it.

"Hai, Namikaze-sama?" Hiri's face dips a little and his eyes are curiously suspicious.

"Who told me not to hit Kakashi-kun?" He asks in an extremely gentle tone of voice.

It was a pretty blunt way to speak to a traumatized and potentially dissociative child, but Hiri isn't a normal kid.

Kakashi is willing to put money down that even Hiri's mental problems will be as unique as Hiri himself.

"I call him 'Other'. He hasn't told me his name," Hiri finally responds. He looks down at the floor and his body shivers once, "He's... been talking to me." Hiri sounds ashamed of 'Other' and Kakashi shakes his head.

"Hiri," He wants to reach out and pull Hiri into his arms, but he doesn't know if Other likes him as much as Hiri likes him. Other is willing to try to protect him, but he doesn't know if Other protected him only because Hiri likes him or if Other likes him as well.

Hiri's gaze rises to his face and he bites his lip.

"Kakashi-nii," He whispers, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you..."

"Hiri-kun," Minato slides off the chair to his knees and draws Hiri's attention again, "Hiri, it's okay. We just need to know that you're safe." Minato does what Kakashi wants to do and pulls the boy into a hug.

Kakashi feels a stinging sensation in his heart and realizes that it's jealously. He's never been jealous before. It's a strange feeling and he doesn't much like it.

When they separate, Hiri looks less tense, but more serious. He finally settles on the couch, still looking cautious and ready-for-flight. Kakashi sees Hiri glance at him from the corner of his eye and he sits down on the floor between Hiri and Minato to let the boy be the one in the dominant position. He doesn't want Hiri to feel threatened or feel like he should answer Minato-sensei's questions because he feels cornered.

"Hiri-kun," Minato begins again, gently, "how long has 'Other' been talking to you?" It's an important question, because an alter ego - which must be what this 'Other' is - usually appears when someone goes through a particularly bad experience, and from everything Hiri has told them, he has a lot of those. And Kakashi knows they've only just scraped the surface of Hiri's past. The 'Other' could have appeared at any time, not depending on how bad the experience itself would have been, but on how badly Hiri _felt_ about it.

Granted, Hiri is too young for a real diagnosis, and they haven't known him all that long, but the symptoms that are appearing are pointing disturbingly in that direction.

Kakashi sucks in a breath when Hiri's eyes turn inward and he can feel something, see something - Other, in those green eyes. He's almost sure they're talking, or that Other is talking to Hiri, but he's not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Isn't sure if Other is a good 'person' or if he's safe to be around. The alter ego could tell Hiri anything, and they would never be able to stop him.

"I don't know... We- he has been here since always, I think. For as long as I have. I think?" Hiri sounds unsure and Kakashi feels as confused as Hiri looks. There had never been a case of someone being _born_ with dissociative identity disorder, but then, Hiri is only three years old and might not remember when the alter showed up.

Kakashi looks at his sensei, who seems to have reached a similar conclusion, because he nods and smiles soothingly. "It's alright, Hiri-kun," he murmurs.

Kakashi can only hope that since Hiri and Other are the same person, essentially, that Other won't do things that Hiri doesn't like.

"He's nice though!" Hiri is quick to continue, "Other likes me and he's been helping me."

"How has he been helping, Hiri-kun?" Minato frowns and Kakashi watches the boy closely. He's looking for hints of Other in every movement that Hiri makes and he can sort of tell now, where Other has begun to influence Hiri.

Yesterday, before Hiri's nasty spell in the kitchen at lunch, Hiri never would have alternated his line of sight between the exits in the room he was in; he either looked directly at the person speaking to him or at the floor. Hiri also sits just a little straighter, as though he is more confident.

It's possible that he's feeling more confident because he feels safer and Kakashi is sure it is because of Other.

"I... woke up in the trees," Hiri's eyes roll up and he sort of stares at the ceiling, "I couldn't remember... anything. But Other was there. He showed me Maionii. I can almost see him in my dreams. Most of the time he takes away the pain."

"May we speak to Other, Hiri-kun?" Kakashi shoots a hard look at Minato, who ignores it. Kakashi knows that it's hard on the original personality for alters to come out to talk, he's seen it enough in the hospital to know that.

Hiri's head dips down, his chin hitting his chest and then he looks up and his bright green eyes have faded a little, darkened. His expression has gone from scared, worried and young to hard, shuttered and experienced.

"What do you want?" When Other speaks, it sounds like it had in the hallway upstairs, darker and lower, but still mostly Hiri.

"Other." Minato leans back in his chair.

Kakashi can tell that Minato doesn't think he has to be as careful with Other as he does with Hiri. Other is the adult personality, even if the child is only three.

"Namikaze." Other looks over to Kakashi and a true smile lights his face up like no smile Kakashi has ever seen on Hiri's face before, "Kakashi-nii."

"Hello." Kakashi smiles and bows his head. Other smiles back and returns the greeting in a very controlled manner.

Minato takes a moment to study Other as Kakashi is doing and they both can see the training. The way he sits, the way he looks at them, even the way he blinks are all indicators to him being older, more experienced and generally ready to fight.

This is the persona that handles the fights, whatever fights Hiri might come across. Kakashi wonders how much Other is keeping from Hiri and why it's just now passing though the barriers the mind makes to separate alters.

"Other," Minato starts and the persona in front of them lifts a lip into a snarl.

"My name is Harry," He says, "Not Other, or Boy, or anything else. Just... Harry."

Kakashi frowns, "Hiri?" He's confused. Every persona that he's ever seen - and he'd seen quite a few in his stay at the hospital - has had a different name for themselves; mostly the names of alter egos have nothing in common with the original's name.

"No," Harry shakes his head and he brushes a lock of hair out of his eyes, "Harry. Har-ry."

"Harri?" Kakashi tries the name again because Harri seems to be a persona that won't lie down and take anything, like Hiri will. Kakashi has noticed that Hiri seems to change the names of people he talks about so that he says them with the same accent as Team Minato.

A disturbing thought occurs to Kakashi and he wonders if maybe it's not Harri who's the alter ego, but Hiri. Hiri is missing a lot of memories and seems to lose himself in his thoughts, so maybe it's Harri who is scared and that is what brought out Hiri.

He isn't sure - doesn't know - so he doesn't say anything.

"It's nice to meet you then, Harri," Minato-sensei says gently. Harri settles down a little at the acknowledgment, nodding stiffly. He still seems wary, though Kakashi wouldn't have expected anything less. Assuming that Harri is the alter ego who takes care of all fighting, he would have been 'made' to be wary and cautious. He would be the one to know, in the way a fighter and not a scared child, not to trust people even when they seem trustworthy.

"We've been speaking a lot to Hiri these past few days, and there are a lot of things I'd like to ask you as well," Minato continues after a short pause. He leans forward, elbows on his knees. Harri looks even more wary and shakes his head.

"No. Ask Hiri what you want, but I'm the secret keeper, the one who got us through all this and I'm not prepared to start spilling secrets to you." Even the alter's way of expressing himself is completely different, and much more adult, than Hiri. It's a bit unnerving to see a three year old so hardened. Harri doesn't act like a three year old, doesn't look like one, and Kakashi isn't sure they'll be able to get through such a hard shell.

But they need to. If Orochimaru is the one that has been hurting Hiri, if Orochimaru is in control of a part of both _Ne_ and the regular ANBU, they need to know as quickly as possible. And yet Kakashi doesn't think Minato will be able to push either Harri or Hiri into answering. Breaking the fragile trust he - they - have in Minato-sensei and the team isn't an option, even for the information they might gain. That would be like taking one step forward and two steps back.

"You can't tell us anything?" Minato asks quietly and then he seems to steel himself. "Not even to help Hiri?" It's a harsh gamble and when Harri tenses, Kakashi fears it was the wrong thing to say and that Harri will pull away, taking Hiri with him.

"You can't help Hiri. Not with that." Harri sneers and the look isn't one that Kakashi ever wants to see on Hiri's face again.

"Why not?" Kakashi has to ask. Why won't it help Hiri, finding out who hurt him so they could stop it from happening to someone else?

Harri cocks his head sideways, just a little, and his dark green eyes stare at Kakashi with consideration and determination in them. "No one can help with that." He finally says.

Minato sighs and Kakashi shakes his head. "Harri, please, what can we do to help?" If Harri won't let them help with their past, Kakashi isn't sure what they can possibly do to help with their future.

"The memories," Harri starts, pauses; then starts again, "The memories are painful. When we split, when I found Hiri, he was cold and hungry and I couldn't help him either. I know that it hurts when you can't help, but I'm doing everything there is to be done. I'm keeping the most painful memories from Hiri so that he doesn't break, but it's very hard work." Harri glares at Minato, "Having him use chakra is not helping either. If I'm too busy keeping the pain from him because of the overuse of chakra, I can't keep the memories from crossing over to him."

Kakashi is appalled. He'd known that Hiri had amazing chakra stores, but to know that an alter ego was keeping the pain of chakra exhaustion from his original persona was horrifying. To know that they'd pushed Hiri into using chakra when he'd activated his sharingan when he had exhausted his massive stores left a bitter taste in his mouth. Kakashi knew how it felt, how painful it was, to try and use the sharingan when suffering from chakra exhaustion.

"What about the snake-man?" Minato asks and Harri shakes his head again, "Please, Harri, why can't you tell me about the snake-man? What about his name?"

"He killed everyone," Harri says and his voice is hollow, "We fought and fought and fought, but it was never good enough." Kakashi could see that Harri is about to say something important before his eyes roll up in his head and his body slumps backwards.

When Harri looks back up, through long black bangs, it isn't Harri.

"Namikaze-sama?" Hiri sounds completely confused, "Did he answer you?" His hands twisted in his lap and his face reflected extreme worry, "I couldn't- I didn't hear him, he wouldn't let me listen when he was talking."

The transitioning between the two is so sudden that it takes both Kakashi and Minato a moment to answer. Minato smiles reassuringly and Kakashi reaches out to Hiri, patting him on the head and trying to conceal his worry. He feels stiff and suspects that he's going to end up with muscle knots in his back from all the tensing and untensing he's been doing.

"He did answer some things, yes," Minato says vaguely and Hiri looks a little less worried. He rubs his forehead with a small hand and Kakashi threads his fingers through Hiri's hair.

"Are you alright, Hiri-kun?" He asks quietly, worried. He doesn't know how hard the shift between persona's was for Hiri and he's worried that the boy wasn't ready to make such a deliberate, on-command jump between the two personalities.

"Yes- Other, he... he's very deep in..." Hiri trails off, rubbing harder and frowning. Kakashi's hand spasms in Hiri's hair, not sure what the boy means or if it's bad that Harri has gone 'deep in'. He wonders if it's because Harri has been keeping both memories and pain from Hiri and if coming out has tired him too much.

"Other told us that his name is Harri," he tells Hiri absently. What happens if Harri isn't strong enough to keep the worst memories at bay any longer? All the horrific things Hiri has already told them are things that Harri didn't think would break Hiri, so these other memories must be...

Kakashi doesn't want to think about it. He watches Hiri mouth the alter's name under his breath, a small smile forming on his face and sees recognition in the boy's eyes. Kakashi realizes that for all that Hiri is young, so is Harri, and Harri doesn't have Team Minato to keep him company.

Harri only has those terrible memories. That thought hurts, because even if Harri is 'just' an alter ego, he is Hiri - probably a rather large part of Hiri - and Kakashi wants to know all of Obito's son. Wants to help both parts, be 'Kakashi-nii' to both of them until they merge. Because they will get well enough to merge. Kakashi and team Minato will help them - him - become whole again, and learn to cope with whatever memories Harri thinks are too painful.

He doesn't know much about the treatment used to help people with DID, only that the Yamanaka's are usually called in at those times.

He's also never met someone before _and_ after treatment. He doesn't really know what the Yamanaka's do or how it works so he is a little leery of letting someone from that Clan getting a hold of Hiri.

Hiri leans into Kakashi's personal space and the teenager is more than happy to pull him the rest of the way in, holding him close. He's glad that he knows now that Hiri sees him as family, as safe, like he saw his two friends.

"Kakashi-nii?" Hiri's question comes out small and nervous, "Harri wasn't... mean? Was he?"

"No, no Hiri-kun, Harri wasn't mean." Kakashi strokes the boy's hair and cuddles him close, "He's just trying to protect you, that's all."

"Do you like him?" Hiri asks another question in his tiny voice and Kakashi wonders why Hiri is so scared. Hiri knows that Harri is himself, knows that Harri is a part of him.

"I do," Kakashi can't say he doesn't like Harri because Harri and Hiri are the same person. There's no way for him to not like any part of Hiri.

Hiri shivers in his arms and nuzzles his throat, "More than me?"

Minato starts at that question, like Kakashi does. Kakashi wonders suddenly how he could have missed it. Hiri _needs_ to be liked, needs to have approval. If he were to find that he wasn't what Kakashi or Minato or Rin wanted; if he were to find out that someone else - even if it were another part of himself - was what they wanted instead, he might just leave, let Harri take over all together.

"No," Kakashi rocks Hiri back and forth gently. Minato reaches out and pets Hiri's hair, probably needing the physical contact to reassure both himself and Hiri. "No, I don't like him more than you."

Granted, Kakashi does like Harri, maybe even love him for what he's able to do for Hiri, but he doesn't like him more than the original. There's no way that Kakashi could ever like a single aspect of Hiri over the whole.

Hiri snuggles closer and Kakashi can feel some of the tension in his small body flee. Minato watches them with tired but fond eyes and Kakashi resonates with the expression. It feels like today has been such a long day already, and the day hasn't even really started yet.

It's still so very early in the morning and he's had such little sleep that Kakashi can't help but find that he's yawning and his eyes are dragging themselves down even as he rocks Hiri in his arms.

Minato stands slowly and helps Kakashi to his feet, "Come on boys," He leds them back up the stairs and to the room where this whole thing had started, "I think it's time to go back to bed."

He doesn't argue with his sensei, just flips his covers off the futon and crawls into the bed. Hiri curls up in his arms and he holds the boy close. Now he knows what Hiri wants, and he is more than willing to let Hiri sleep with him, in this manner. He nuzzles his nose against Hiri's hair and breathes in the boy's scent. He smells a lot like Minato's shampoo and a little like Obito.

Minato covers them with the blanket and rubs Kakashi's shoulder, pets Hiri's hair. Hiri's arms tangle around Kakashi's neck and Kakashi watches Minato leave the room.

Soon enough both of them are asleep.

****xXx****

Kakashi wakes up again long after the sun is up and finds that Rin is sitting beside his futon, reading a large scroll. He wonders what the scroll is about because it isn't one that he recognizes. His arms tighten around Hiri's tiny body and he makes sure that he doesn't disturb the boy when he lets Rin know that he's awake.

"Kakashi-kun, Minato-sensei went to the Tower when I got here." She looks at him in question, "He said you have something to tell me?"

"-I made a horrible mistake last night," He admits quietly.

She's so soft, he thinks, and she seems so innocent, but he knows that she's not so it doesn't surprise him to see her hackles rise and her face twist into a half-snarl. He's very pleased that she's putting aside her like of him to protect Hiri.

"What did you do?"

Hiri shifted in his arms and he hums to the boy and Hiri settles again.

"Hiri crawled into bed with me last night. Naked." Rin's hand goes up, covering her mouth, but Kakashi can hear her inhalation of fear, "And told me that he didn't know how to sleep with someone without kissing them."

Her eyes are wide and her face is completely white and he wonders if she's going to pass out, but she controls herself and nods - though a little hesitantly - and he continues, "As it turns out, he wasn't talking about sex." The relief on her face is heartbreaking, "He said that he used to crawl into bed with Maionii and Ron and kiss their cheeks and sleep with them for warmth."

"Oh," Rin's face hardens, "But something happened between you thinking he wanted to have sex with you and finding out what he actually meant."

She's perceptive and Kakashi nods, "I... may have freaked out. And filled the house with KI." Rin looks like she's about to slap him so he hurries on, "Sensei pulled me out of the room and I was hyperventilating, so he backhanded me just hard enough to shock me out of my- my complete horror."

"I see," Rin says and she calms down a little and places her hand on his shoulder.

"Rin," Kakashi's face twists up into an almost-frown, "Hiri's... broken."

Her expression is sad, "I know."

"No, I mean, really broken. He has DID."

She frowns in confusion and tilts her head to the side, "Hiri's too young to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder."

"His other persona - his protector persona - came out. He saw Sensei backhand me and stood in front of me, protecting me from Sensei." He swallows a lump in his throat, "Rin, he said that if anyone wanted to hurt me, they'd have to go through him first."

Rin blinks in shock. "That's- that's not at all like Hiri." She whispers and he nods again.

"I know. When Hiri came back, Minato-sensei got him dressed and we came downstairs and we- hell, we actually talked to Harri."

"Harri?" Rin questions him.

"Yes, his alter ego, his protector persona, is named Harri, not Hiri. Hiri called him 'Other' until we told him what his alter called himself."

She leans back then, and studies Hiri, who is still curled up in Kakashi's arms. Kakashi watches her eyes turn from Hiri to the scroll and back again, seeming to contemplate something.

"I understand now." She says quietly, her voice infused with some kind of regret. "This scroll," She says, hefting the item, "Minato-sensei asked me to read it. I didn't understand then, but it's a scroll from the hospital about mental disorders."

Kakashi can feel his face tighten and he nods. He should have figured Minato would give Rin a scroll about it.

"Any good information?" He wants to ask if it says anything about how to help people with DID, but doesn't quite know how to get the question out. It lodges in his throat and stays there. The subject is still too new and sore for him to talk properly about, especially when he has no facts to lean on.

Rin watches him with that perceptive medic's look in her eyes and she nods a little. "Yes, some of the things here will be quite useful," she says quietly, looking sad and tired. She bunches the scroll up in her arms and then crawls around to sit by his side, her fingers flip between the different sections and then points to the one marked with Hiri's disorder.

Kakashi leans back on her, just a little, in wordless thanks and strokes Hiri's hair carefully while he reads.

One particular line he reads scares him.

It isn't recommended to try and merge the identities because some personas saw it as death and refused. The only real treatment that is used currently is getting the persona's to cooperate with each other.

He doesn't want Harri to feel like they're killing him, but he sure as hell doesn't want Hiri to be so broken. He wants them to merge.

Hiri fidgets in his arms and he forces himself to relax. The boy wakes up anyway and blinks up at him with blurry eyes. "Kaka-nii," Hiri murmurs his name, an actual nickname for him, and cuddles close, nuzzling him.

"Hiri-kun," Kakashi strokes his messy black hair and smiles at him.

Hiri's eyes widen fractionally and he reaches out with an unsteady hand to Kakashi's face.

It's then that Kakashi realizes that he doesn't have his mask on. He didn't have his mask on during their very early morning talk, but there was so much going on, he's not surprised that Hiri missed noticing.

But he's noticed now.

Small fingers drift over his cheek bones, nose, jaw, chin and then up to his lips. "You're very pretty, Kaka-nii." Hiri tells him in a serious manner, "I wouldn't want to be seen if I were so pretty either," He says and Kakashi doesn't know if it's a compliment, or just a way of life for Hiri. Hiri strokes down Kakashi's neck, fumbles with the mask and pulls it haphazardly up over the teenager's face.

He's disappointed that Hiri doesn't want to see him, but pleased that Hiri cares enough for him to put his mask back on for him.

Hiri's stomach growls lightly and the child blushes. Rin chuckles and rolls the scroll up, "I think that," She tickles Hiri's belly lightly, causing him to giggle and blush harder, "-means its breakfast time."

Hiri is still wearing the clothing that Minato had put on him earlier in the morning so Kakashi tugs on it a bit to straighten it out before following the Iryou-nin and toddler down the stairs to the kitchen.

Hiri insists on helping him make breakfast and Kakashi doesn't have the heart to tell him that he doesn't require the boy's help so he gets Rin to help Hiri set the table and make fresh orange juice.

It's a bit of a surprise that Hiri is so much more open this morning, considering what he went through over the night, but Kakashi thinks that having his new guardians aware of his Other has lifted a lot of weight off the child's thin shoulders.

For the rest of the morning, what's left of it anyway, the three of them play simple - and not so simple - games. Hiri seems to favor intellectual games rather than physical ones and Kakashi can understand why. Also, Hiri is very good at critical thinking. He tends towards the more cautious approach, but his plans, whether they are for getting words on the scrabble board or making a blanket fort in the living room, never seem to fail him.

As they play Kakashi is thankful that they found Hiri, that Hiri got away before any more damage was done to the boy, that Hiri is finally learning what fun is.

*****xxXXxx*****


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Seven: _Minato_

**Author:** wife-chan

**Rating:** Mature

**Warnings:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment, disturbing themes.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Author Notes:** A little later than we planned, but we haven't stopped writing and we _haven't_ put this in hiatus, just to reassure you guys. May and June are just very busy months in RL for us :) We did manage to get this chapter over ten thousand words and twenty pages though!

*****xxXXxx*****

Minato waves Shikaku into his office and the man ambles in slowly, looking thoughtful. Minato expected the Nara to want to see Hiri before he agreed to anything, and can sympathize with his shock at seeing the three-year-old's sharingan.

It was a good decision, he thinks, to enlist the Nara head's help in this matter. They are a trustworthy clan, and their leader has been a friend of Minato's since a few years before he had ascended to Hokage.

"Huh," Shikaku says noncommittally and Minato seats himself in the chair behind his desk. The Nara is already slumped down in the chair opposite him, and Minato isn't sure how the man manages to look so lazy, despite his eyes being very much aware. Maybe it's bred into all Nara clan members.

"Kakashi-kun found Hiri in the woods outside of Konoha a few days ago," he begins and Shikaku leans forward, betraying some of his interest. Minato resists smiling tiredly. A Nara never could forgo an unsolved puzzle. "- his chakra coil matrix matches that of my late student, Uchiha Obito," he adds in a carefully neutral tone. Shikaku will figure it out on his own.

"Your student had no siblings?" The Nara's tone is bland and almost drawling, but Minato only nods. "He was thirteen when he was killed two years ago?" Again, Minato nods and he can see Shikaku's eyes sharpen at the implication.

"And Hiri-kun is three," Minato finishes softly and sees his friend's eyes narrow a little further. His own fingertips are digging into the wooden armrests at his sides, and only his mental control is keeping him from breaking them like matchsticks.

"He is the son?" Shikaku asks, and Minato pauses. He hadn't expected a direct question. Shikaku is a relatively honest man, but he's usually not that direct. Minato isn't sure if it's because the Nara head is angry or if he just wants an outright confirmation before they proceed.

"I see no other probability," he finally says, because how else could the boy have a chakra matrix that so closely resembled Obito's? He knows Obito's parents hadn't had more than one child - he would have noticed that - and they hadn't had any long-term assignments for the duration of Obito's genin period. They'd wanted to be home for their son, except when the war drew them out to the front lines, and they had no choice but to go.

Even though Minato didn't have much to do with the Uchiha's, he does know that Obito's parents had been considered odd for the clan. They were the only Uchiha's who had decided, and were permitted to, live outside of the compound. He'd been surprised when Obito had told his team that he didn't live in the compound, but hadn't really given it much thought other than to note the oddity.

Shikaku hums under his breath, "I assume that you're going to start looking for when Hiri-chan was conceived?"

"Yes," Minato says wearily. Then he sighs, "When you talk to Hiri-kun, don't call him 'chan'." Shikaku tilts his head to the side in question and Minato closes his eyes, "He's been very heavily abused and considers 'chan' to be an endearment for only girls."

Shikaku sucks in a startled breath. He understands what Minato is telling him without need for the exact words. Minato is thankful that he doesn't have to come right out and say it, because it's painful to remember reading the scroll from the medical scan and seeing so many horrible things on it. It's painful to remember that he had to tell Hiri he didn't require kisses, or anything else for that matter, in exchange for food and clothes and a place to sleep.

He absently wonders how he would have handled things without Rin and Kakashi by his side to help stem the flow of helplessness that he'd felt, how he would have handled Hiri alone.

He doesn't think he could have done it alone and that kind of scares him. He's supposed to the Hokage; the best and brightest in the village, but without what remains of his genin team, he doesn't think he would have managed to get Hiri to trust him enough not to climb into his bed and offer 'kisses'.

He'll have to go to the Memorial Stone and thank Hiri's friend Neviru for being blond because he knows that that's the only reason Hiri can trust him right now, associating Minato and Neviru because of their physical similarity and remembering how nice Neviru was to him.

He wishes he could have had a picture of Neviru and Hiri's other friends. It would have been nice to have been able put faces to the people that played such a large part in Hiri's short, and otherwise horrible, life.

"I'm going to need to look over my team's mission record from around four years ago," he tells Shikaku tiredly. The Nara nods and continues on his own,

"And you want me to help you with the puzzle." Shikaku's voice says that he finds this very troublesome indeed, but that he'll help anyway. Minato is sure it's not just as a favor to him as a friend, but because the Nara is also angry about what must have happened to Obito. Pre-teen and adolescent boys did not father children willingly, after all.

"I do," Minato nods. He's brought almost all of the reports from the year Hiri should have been conceived to his office, and it's going to be a lot of work to sort through. The pile is at least an inch thick. Minato hadn't known they'd done this many missions that year, though he'd known it was a busy year, since they'd been short on people who weren't heavily involved in the war already.

He retrieves the pile from his lower desk drawer, frowning at it as he puts it on the desk's surface. Shikaku eyes it and mutters something under his breath. Minato doesn't know what, but he can guess.

They're quiet for some time, shifting through sheets of paper and reading – though it's more like skimming through - mission reports and after action reports.

A sudden movement from Shikaku has Minato lifting his gaze from the papers he's examining and he looks to the other man. Shikaku's face is blank, like it usually is, but he slowly lifts a folder and holds it out to Minato. The Hokage takes the thin folder from his advisor and opens it.

He's afraid of what he might find.

As he scans the papers, he can't see anything that sticks out immediately. Not until he gets to Obito's after action report and reads that his student had been detoured while doing a solo report run back from the front lines to Konoha. Obito had been detoured in the Red Light district and he'd written that he'd been dosed with something, waking up three hours later without any memory of what happened.

Minato remembers berating Obito for being late when he'd gotten back to the front lines, and how Obito had only blushed and looked away, as though embarrassed.

He remembers that specific part of the mission because Obito had never been embarrassed about being late before and it was been something that had stuck out. Minato had brushed it from his mind without much thought, other than to take notice of it, because the team needed to hurry on to the next point of interest on the map and get the intelligence they'd gathered back to Konoha.

"Damn it." Minato sighs and rubs his forehead between his eyes. Obito had been in the Red Light district with the whores for three hours without a single memory of what had happened to him.

Minato wonders if Hiri had originally been a whore's try at getting blackmail material over the Uchiha for money or status.

He silently debates with himself the wisdom of telling Shikaku of his theories about Orochimaru and the ANBU he was sure Hiri had spoken about.

It wasn't that he didn't know Shikaku, or trust him, but the information that he had heard from Hiri was still circumstantial, none of it had been confirmed. Hiri hadn't put a name to the 'snake-man' and he hadn't said that the 'minions' had been ANBU. After all, Hiri knew that Kakashi was ANBU and he wasn't scared of the young jounin.

At least, he wasn't scared of Kakashi like he would be if he thought that Kakashi was a member of the group that had tortured him.

Shikaku taps his desk and Minato looks up with weary eyes.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Call Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Seijun, and Uchiha Jiyuuri." Minato refrains from biting his lip. He has too much control to show his apprehension in front of Shikaku.

Before Shikaku can reply, a messenger bird flies in the window and drops a note off in Shikaku's hands. Shikaku looks at it curiously before opening it. His eyes scan the note and Minato can feel the man' surprise even if Shikaku's countenance doesn't change.

"Hokage-sama," Shikaku straightens his back and sits up, "Uchiha-san called together the Council. There have been rumors since you rushed out of your office two days ago. The civilian secretary that you have started them just after you left-"

Minato shakes his head, "Right," He mutters to himself. He was going to replace Mitsukushi. If he couldn't keep the Hokage's business to himself the Council couldn't stop him from getting rid of the man. He'd be able to get a loyal ANBU in position quite a bit easier with Mitsukushi's flapping mouth on display. Right now he has to think about the Council though, he'll get back to Mitsukushi and that problem after he's dealt with Fugaku and the rumors. "What kind of rumors am I going to be dealing with?"

"A bastard Uchiha child," Shikaku murmurs. "Mitsukushi-san was quite clear in saying that the child had black hair and that you indicated the child was the progeny of your dead teammate."

"Damn," Minato closes the mission report he'd been staring at. "When are they meeting?" He asks, hoping he'll have time to talk to Fugaku before the meeting.

"Half an hour," Shikaku shakes his head as he looks at the note again, "Inoichi just gave me the update. He called it an emergency meeting because it involves you, an Uchiha and clan laws."

"Half an hour?" Minato frowns. Even emergency meetings were usually never held within an hour, since it was considered disrespectful to call upon your equals and superiors unless the sky was falling down on your head. That Fugaku had already set the time, and that the timeframe was so very snug, didn't bode well for this meeting.

It was also annoying. He and the Uchiha head didn't get on well even on the best of days, mostly because the Uchiha had the habit of looking suspiciously at anyone superior to them. Fugaku never made any verbal or implied signs of the discontent, but Minato knew it was there.

This was sure to worsen it, unless he could do a quick enough damage control session to satisfy all the involved parties, which he strongly doubted. At the very least, the Uchiha - or rather, Jiyuuri and her husband - would surely want Hiri to live with them and the clan.

The thought sent a pang of pain through his heart. He didn't want to give Hiri up, wasn't sure he'd be able to give the boy up. Wasn't sure Kakashi wouldn't up and grab Hiri and high-tail out of Konoha, if that's what it took to keep his late best friend's son from disappearing on him. Minato didn't know how Rin would respond, but he doubted that she'd try to stop Kakashi.

He ran a hand through his unruly blond hair and sighed inwardly. And what about Hiri? Hiri, who was the most badly abused child Minato had ever seen, and who had developed another personality to deal with the horrific events in his past.

...How would Other - Harri - react? The thought sent chills down Minato's spine. Harri was suspicious of everything and everyone, and he doubted Fugaku would feel like a trustworthy figure to the boy. To either side of the boy. If Harri felt threatened... there were so many things that could go wrong. He could take over completely, refusing to allow Hiri out. Or he could snap. Or simply refuse to trust any of them ever again.

And he'd just begun trusting Minato. They hadn't had enough time together yet to establish something deeper, and for all that Kakashi cared about Hiri and his alter, the genius hadn't built enough rapport with the child for them to trust his word completely, even if he told them that Fugaku was 'good'. Which Kakashi wouldn't do anyway.

Having pretty much found when Hiri was conceived, Minato doesn't need the files anymore, so he stacks them neatly together and puts them back in the drawer. He only has a short amount of time before the meeting and he needs to think through his arguments. However much he knows Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza, he also knows that the child he has at his house is a clan member, unofficial as it is, and that even the most amiable of the clan heads would want the Uchiha's to have their young kin in their compound.

But what should he tell them? What can he say that will convince them that Hiri should remain with him and the team? He isn't sure he has enough rational explanations, and the sentimental ones would just make them doubt him. Sometimes Minato wished there were more clan heads like Chouza; a genuinely kind and forthright man, who didn't often, if ever, plot with ulterior motives.

He could bring up the issue of Hiri's mental state, and of course the abuse. But that would require evidence, and probably also an interview between Hiri and the council, and Minato wasn't sure Hiri would be able to handle that. No, scratch that; he was sure Hiri wouldn't be able to handle it. He'd only just started to get comfortable around the team.

Also, none of the clan heads were parents yet, with the exception of Inuzuka Tsume and Fugaku himself, so they wouldn't necessarily have sympathy for Minato as a stand-in parent. He is rather sure Fugaku won't understand even though he has Itachi, since from what he's heard; the Uchiha's relationship with his son is more sensei-student than father-son even at the best of times.

And he doesn't have the complete trust of the council as a whole yet; he's only been Hokage for a few months, and it had taken him a while to get into the hang of it. There are so many duties he hadn't been prepared for when he accepted the position, and because of the war, Sarutobi hadn't had time to train him for the position as was customary.

Minato supposed he'd simply have to feel them out; his instincts and head for politics had always been more off the top of his head than due to careful planning. He has an amazing amount of luck.

He nods to Shikaku, who's been sitting quietly, waiting him out as he contemplated his options, and rose from his seat with the file clenched in his hand. It was proof now, and though he wasn't sure he wanted the council to receive it - because it hurt that Obito had been taken advantage of, and he_ hadn't noticed _- but it is information they'll surely require, and he can't hide it.

As he and Shikaku stepped out of the office, Minato can't help but wonder how Kakashi will take this. He doesn't want to put more unwarranted blame on his student's shoulders, but this isn't something he'd feel comfortable hiding from the genius. It wouldn't be fair to Kakashi. Or to Rin, for that matter.

He glances down at the file and frowns.

Presenting this to Fugaku would surely make the man consider him irresponsible. Not realizing - or investigating - a three hour time lapse where one of his students had gone missing was indeed irresponsible and he feels bad enough as it is. It will probably also be used as a method of proving he isn't able to properly care for the child, for Hiri.

And he isn't sure if he wants to let Fugaku know about _Harri_.

He doesn't really have a choice though, because legally, Hiri is an Uchiha and all Uchiha's fall under Fugaku's purview.

"Hokage-sama?" Shikaku murmurs and Minato shakes his worries off.

If need be, he can prove, once again, that he is the best and brightest of Konoha. He'll take on the whole damned Council and beat them all into submission, if need be.

He doesn't want to be that kind of leader, but if that's what it takes to keep Hiri and Harri safe, then that's the kind of leader he'll be.

Minato exhales sharply and shakes his increasingly violent thoughts away. He's getting ahead of himself and it won't do to appear at the council chamber pumped up and spewing killing intent. That wouldn't be to his - or Hiri's - advantage at all.

But first he should inform his students. He's not sure if he should tell Hiri anything yet, though. He doesn't want the boy to be unprepared for the trying day ahead, but he doesn't really want to see those large green eyes grow distrusting or hysterical.

Maybe he'll be lucky and Hiri will be asleep.

He turns to Shikaku, who just waves him ahead with a nod before he's even started signing his intentions, and Minato sends him what he hopes is a thankful smile. The man's intellect and perceptiveness really knew no bounds.

He ends up hesitating in front of the door, unable to bring himself to actually knock on it. Once again, it feels like he's standing on the precipice of a change. Hiri does seem to bring forth a lot of those feelings in him.

He ends up flaring his chakra in what is technically an ANBU signal, but he knows it's something at least Kakashi will recognize.

It's Rin instead of Kakashi who answers the door, "Minato-sensei?"

He sighs in some kind of relief because Rin isn't calling him 'Mina-sensei' which means that nothing has happened to make her afraid or uncertain or scared for Hiri again. "Rin-chan," He rubs the back of his head and grimaces, "Where's Kakashi-kun?"

"Listening to Hiri-kun read," She tells him with a smile and he's glad that she's smiling again because for the last few days he'd though she'd never smile again.

"Good, good," He pauses and smiles back at her with surprise, "Hiri's the one reading?"

Rin gestures for him to come inside - even though it's his own house - and he can hear Hiri's soft voice as he reads from a book. Listening to the words, he's amazed to realize that it's the book that he'd gotten from Jiraiya only a few weeks ago, the one he's only flipped though but hasn't actually read yet.

"The Uchiha," Minato uses that form of address because it won't do for his students to learn to be disrespectful, "-has called a meeting. It'll be in the next," He looks down at his watch with a frown, "Twenty minutes."

Rin understands what he's not saying without further explanation, "Oh, Sensei," Her eyes turn a little desperate and she looks over to the living room where Hiri is still reading without pause, "It's about-" She stops and takes what seems like a fortifying breath, "It's about Hiri, isn't it?"

Minato nods tightly, wishing he knew how to start; how to tell her about what had happened to her late teammate. There is no good way to say it, and Rin is too smart not to understand the implications of it immediately.

He takes a deep breath, hoping it'll strengthen him enough to get though this, but just as he's about to begin, Kakashi steps out the living room. He stares back into the room with what Minato is sure is a troubled expression, and then turns to them.

"Hiri-kun is tired. I left him on the couch to sleep, again." Kakashi frowns and asks, "Is it common for small children to sleep this much?" His brow is wrinkled and his eye is narrowed. The expression of concern would warm Minato's heart in another situation, but at the moment it mostly just worries him. Kakashi already has such a close bond with Hiri...

Rin rushes through an explanation on how all toddlers need more sleep than adults and can take several naps over the course of a day, and Minato can tell that she's nervous. Rin usually lectures in a calm and even tone of voice, but by the end of her rant she's out of breath and Kakashi is staring at her.

Minato clears his throat before the teen has the chance to ask her what's wrong, and repeats what he told Rin; the Uchiha has called a meeting. He watches Kakashi's face tighten and wonders if he shouldn't call one of his ANBU to guard Hiri while he's gone, to make sure Kakashi doesn't take off with him even before the verdict.

Oh, but the ANBU aren't necessarily loyal. He'd almost forgotten that in his haste.

He holds up the file before Kakashi can say anything that'll constitute as a threat towards a head of clan, and moves on to the newly discovered issue of Hiri's parentage. One problem at a time.

He lets Kakashi take the folder from him and the boy flips through the pages faster than Shikaku had. Shikaku is smart, but Kakashi is a genius and has a reading comprehension of twelve hundred words per minute and he has an eidetic memory.

"God damn it," Kakashi is staring at one of the last pages in the folder and Minato knows he's looking at Obito's AAR. "Why didn't anyone know?" He looks up at Minato and the new Hokage refuses to flinch.

"He didn't give a reason for being late that time," Minato says softly, "And would any of us believed him if he told us that he 'got lost in the Red Light district' when that excuse is put next to all the other unbelievable excuses that he used?"

Kakashi doesn't say anything and Minato knows how he feels.

Ashamed.

Rin's gasp makes both Minato and his student look at her and she's covering her mouth with her hand, tears in her eyes, "The Red Light district?" She asks, staring at the both of them and Minato knows that she's put it together. Rin is almost as perceptive as Kakashi is smart, after all.

"He wrote in his AAR that he was dosed with something and lost three hours of time, waking up in the Red Light district," Minato expands, "I was thinking that it might have been a woman who was looking to blackmail the Uchiha's, or maybe get money out of them for the child." For Hiri, his mind supplies and his heart clenches in his chest.

He's too young to have a heart attack, but with all the stress he's been going though lately with the village and presently with Hiri, he thinks he might have to get Rin to give him a check-up.

He shakes the feeling off with difficulty, knowing that it'll have to wait. Mentioning it now, even as a joke, would probably just upset Rin. He takes the file back from Kakashi and Rin doesn't protest that she hasn't read it yet. He doesn't know if that should worry him or not, and adds a 'talk to Rin and Kakashi about blame issues' note in his growing pile of things to do.

If this goes on he'll be gray-haired before the week is out.

"I want to come with you to see the council," Kakashi speaks up, and Minato eyes his student's clenched fists in worry. He's not sure that letting an emotional Kakashi into a room with an Uchiha head on a witch hunt would be such a good idea. He finds some morbid amusement in the fact that this is the first time he's had concerns about Kakashi becoming _too_ emotional.

Well, if Kakashi is with him, at least he'll know that the boy isn't running off to become nuke-nin with Hiri under his arm. He does think that he'll need someone with them who's more focused on Hiri than the proceedings - because he knows that Kakashi isn't going to leave Hiri at home with only Rin as his protection - so he turns to Rin, "Would you come as well? Hiri will need someone..." He trails off and she smiles at him with a nod.

"Sensei?" Kakashi speaks quietly as Rin goes upstairs to pack a shoulder bag of things for Hiri. She's brought a lot of her and her brother's old toys over for Hiri and Minato appreciates that. "Should I get my mask?"

Minato shakes his head, "No, I won't need you as ANBU, Kakashi." If Kakashi is ANBU in the meeting, he'll be waiting for Minato to say just one thing that can construed as an order to take Hiri away, or attack someone. Minato can't have that happen. "Why don't you pick Hiri-kun up and we'll be on our way when Rin comes back down."

Hiri, sleeping in Kakashi's arms, is completely adorable and if Minato wasn't so high-strung, he would have said it out loud, if only to tease his student. Rin doesn't hesitate in commenting that Kakashi is rather cute with a sleeping toddler in his arms and Kakashi doesn't seem to have the heart to even glare at her.

All three of them are glad that Hiri isn't in the throes of a nightmare.

Minato is sure that it's is a very unusual thing for the boy and spends a few seconds just being happy that somehow, Kakashi's presence seems to make Hiri feel secure. He's glad that the boy has that, though he can't help but think that it won't last.

What if Hiri wakes up from a nightmare, frightened and realizing he's not where he fell asleep? In front of the Council, no less?

Though that would obviously prove that Hiri does have lasting repercussions of the abuse, if anyone would doubt that, and since Kakashi has worked as a damper on hysterics perhaps showing their relationship in action - how safe Hiri feels with him - will sway opinions.

Minato wishes he'd have time to speak to Sarutobi before the meeting, but as it is, they're fairly rushing ahead towards the council chambers and there simply isn't time for any detours. He's not sure Fugaku would even have the courtesy to actually wait for his arrival if he showed up late.

He arrives at the council chambers with his team with a just over a minute to spare and Fugaku has already risen to his feet to address the gathered clan leaders. The Uchiha's mouth purses and his eyes track Kakashi with such intensity that Minato is surprised Hiri doesn't wake up.

"Uchiha-san," He speaks softly because everyone knows that when Minato is angry, he gets loud, but when he's furious, he gets very, _very_ quiet. Minato isn't above using that for intimidation. Not that he has to try being quiet because he is, in fact, furious.

"Yondaime-sama," Fugaku jerks his head forward in the mockery of a bow that Minato can't call him on and turns his eyes back to Kakashi and Hiri.

Kakashi readjusts Hiri in his arms and glares back at the Uchiha, not at all cowed.

"What is the meaning of this meeting?"

"That child," Fugaku spits angrily, waving a hand in the direction of Hiri, "Is purported to be an Uchiha. Obviously, as he is unclaimed, he is a bastard and the clan laws should be followed accordingly."

"And which of the clan's laws do you speak of, Uchiha-san?" Minato murmurs, wanting to press Fugaku into saying exactly what the Uchiha clan laws are. He wants everyone to know that Fugaku only wants Hiri so he can kill the boy to keep his clan 'pure'.

Fugaku might be a crafty bastard, but he's still incensed with the news of child claiming - without proof that he knows of - to be Uchiha.

The clan head grits his teeth, jaw visibly tensing. Minato wants him to lash out; wants the Uchiha to give him a reason to unleash his building anger on the one planning to kill an innocent child; kill Obito's son.

"The law that states that a bastard is subject to the clan head's discretion," he grits out, and Minato might have admired him for stating the truth of the law without actually saying it out loud. As it is, his anger just takes on a sharper edge and he glides forward to stand in front of the collected council.

Every clan head is in attendance, together with Sarutobi and his advisors. Danzo is missing, which is both unusual and highly suspicious. The sly old man usually took every opportunity that might enable him to play his political games and try to bring Minato down.

He shoots a glance towards Hiri, glad that the Danzo isn't in attendance. He doubts Hiri would have ever actually have met the old man, if indeed he was behind the pain in the boy's past, but Minato would still prefer the two to be as far away from each other as he's able to keep them.

"I have a personal interest in Hiri-kun," Minato smiles lazily, daring Fugaku to lose control, "Please, enlighten us as to the usual procedure for bastards of the Uchiha."

"If a clan bastard cannot show the manifestation of the clan's genkai kekkei, the bastard is considered a threat to the bloodline and terminated."

Minato is one of the four people in the council room that don't explode into shouts. He is one of the four people that already knew, thanks to Obito explaining to his team how strict the clan laws that he followed were. Fugaku is glaring at him with complete hatred and he can't help but be proud of making the 'mighty' Uchiha fall in the eyes of the rest of the council.

The symphony of enraged voices around them rises and rises until finally Minato raises a hand and the other clan heads fall silent. It takes over a minute and that is the longest it has ever taken Minato to control a room full of subordinates.

When everyone is silent and staring at Fugaku with accusing eyes, a whimper comes from Kakashi's direction and as one, the body of the council turn to look at Hiri, who is awake and cuddled into Kakashi's arms, seemingly trying to hide from everything around him.

Minato steps towards his student and the child and reaches out to Hiri with a gentle murmur. Hiri reaches back to him.

The Hokage grasps Hiri's hand in his and carefully takes the child from Kakashi. He gets a growl from his student, but shakes it off. He's not scared of Kakashi and he knows Kakashi is controlling his overwhelming emotions as best he can.

"Hiri-kun?" He strokes Hiri's dark hair and rocks the toddler back and forth a little, humming under his breath.

No one - not even his students - knows how very relieved, surprised and _thankful_ Minato is that Hiri feels safe with him.

Hiri looks up at him through his bangs, his large green eyes uncertain. Minato can detect a faint trembling in the boy's hands as Hiri grips his shirt, and it pains him that Hiri is going to be introduced to the village by way of the council. He doesn't want Hiri to know why he's here, or what Fugaku wants with him - doesn't want the boy to lose his trust in him.

"Namikaze-sama?" Hiri whispers so quietly that Minato doubts even Inuzuka Tsume could have heard him. The boy's voice is uncertain and he seems to curl in on himself when Minato turns to face the council body straight forward. He doesn't know a gentle way to do this, just that it has to be done as quickly as possible.

He just wants it to be over, wants to be the one to take Hiri home with him. Kakashi glares at him even harder when the boy's trembling becomes more noticeable and fear starts leaking out. Minato wonders how much Hiri already suspects from this situation and how much is just his normal level of fear for any unknown person.

Minato almost wishes he had woken Hiri up and asked for Harri to come with them instead, because the alter would have been handling this situation a lot better, Minato is sure.

Minato murmurs reassuringly to Hiri for a moment and then turns to Fugaku, "Uchiha-san, this is Uchiha Hiri, son of Uchiha Obito."

Fugaku sneers in the worst manner Minato has ever seen before. "Prove it," he growls low in the back of his throat and looks down his nose at the toddler.

"Hiri-kun, can you show Uchiha-san what you showed Shikaku-san?" He whispers into Hiri's messy hair, nuzzling the boy in an effort to comfort him.

Hiri bows his head into Minato's robes and bites his lip, "The man- the man who looked like Feral-man ate him?" He whispers and more than one council member turns to assess the scars adorning Shikaku's face. Minato would have smiled, but he knows that Hiri has actually seen 'Feral-man' eat someone before, so it's not as funny to him as it is to Yamanaka Inoichi, who is trying not to laugh at the put upon expression Shikaku has adopted.

"Yes, that man," he agrees with a pressed smile, but hopes that Hiri won't notice it's not as real as it should be.

Hiri looks up at into his face and then his green eyes bleed red and then he turns and looks at Fugaku.

Fugaku - and the rest of the council, save Shikaku - blanch. The bone-whiteness of Fugaku's face worries Minato for less than a second. The worst that could happen is Fugaku having a heart attack and the man is too young for that; he's a ninja and in excellent physical shape.

Also, he's not sure that Fugaku having a heart attack would be a bad thing, per se. He eyes the man as he stares at Hiri with the closest expression to shock Minato has ever seen on his face before.

Minato slides his eyes over the other clan heads, assessing their reactions as quickly as he can before they have a chance to compose themselves. Their expressions should tell him a lot about who he needs to keep Hiri away from, or risk him becoming a pawn in some political game.

Sarutobi's two advisors are leaning forward, peering at Hiri intently and Minato resists growling at them for their obvious dismissal of Hiri's fear. He doesn't like the expressions they're wearing; they remind him uncomfortably of Danzo. He just knows that what happened here today will reach the Root commander's ears before nightfall.

Inoichi has turned to Shikaku, sporting a frown and narrowed eyes, but he looks more worried than calculating and since the interrogator has always been one of Minato's supporters, he feels safe in assuming that there won't be any problems springing up around him.

He doesn't even need to observe the Akimichi to know that Chouza won't try to play the child either; the Ino-Shika-Chou trio has always been a very loyal bunch, but Chouza was one of the few ninja Minato could honestly call kind-hearted. Oh, not that most ninja were cold or cruel, but few retained the kind of kindness Chouza still possessed.

The newly appointed Hyuga head, Hiashi, is wearing a contemptuous expression - but it 's directed towards Fugaku instead of Hiri, which relieves Minato. He isn't sure where the Hyuga head stands yet, having only known him as a clan leader for a few months. He does know that there are several in the Hyuga main house council he'd need to watch out for, however.

Inuzuka Tsume has her lips pulled back in a silent snarl, but considering that she is a new mother herself, Minato is relatively sure that she is more upset with what the eyes imply than anything else. He does not look forward to telling the council what has happened to Hiri, and why he was born, but he has a feeling that her reaction will be somewhat extreme. Inuzukas do everything by extremes.

The always stoic Aburame head, Shibi, is impossible to read, as always. The man will probably make a logical assessment so typical of those in his clan and then come to a conclusion that probably isn't far off the mark. The Aburame aren't known for playing any kind of political games though, so Minato doesn't bother trying to figure out what the man might conclude.

He looks back towards Fugaku just in time to see the man compose himself, and Minato can't deny he is a little impressed by how quickly the man can affect composure again.

"I-" Fugaku's voice is very, _very_ quiet. So quiet that Minato, who is the closest to him, almost can't hear him speak, "I retract my statement of Uchiha Hiri being an unclaimed bastard."

Minato tries not to snort. Give the man a genius and find a humble bone in his body. The only reason Fugaku is claiming Hiri now was the sharingan. Seeing as even his own genius son hasn't activated his sharingan despite being a year older than Hiri, it's not inconceivable to conclude that Fugaku just wants Hiri so they boy will grow up and father more genii.

Kakashi appears at Minato's elbow and reaches for Hiri. The Hokage allows him to take the child from his arms, running a hand over Hiri's hair in a fatherly manner. Hiri smiles at him and he smiles back, sub-vocalizing to Kakashi that the young man should take Hiri from the room with Rin because Minato is going to start talking about Hiri's past. It's not something that he wants to put Hiri through again, not after having the boy relive it already.

Kakashi nods and Rin hands him the original medical scroll and then his students leave.

Fugaku follows them as they go, intent on Hiri, who's eyes are still red.

The door closes behind Rin softly before Fugaku speaks again, "How long can he hold the sharingan?"

"We haven't tested it yet, but over an hour," Minato sighs. He can see the concern in Fugaku's face now, and though he isn't sure if it's for the boy or the potential the boy holds for the clan, it's real concern. He's going to take a step out on faith and say that Fugaku is partly human and does care for the boy, in some manner.

If he turns out to be wrong later, he'll just have to kill the Uchiha leader and let the successor in on his utter love for Hiri so he doesn't make the same mistake as Fugaku.

Shikaku stands, "Hokage-sama," He drawls, "Hiri-kun was found three days ago?"

"Correct," Minato turns to the council, "There was a surge of unknown, but slightly familiar chakra, so I sent Inu and Karasu to scout. Karasu found nothing and Inu sent him back in and continued his search. He came across Hiri-kun, scanned his chakra matrix and then brought the boy to me."

Shikaku tilts his head a little, "And could you identify the chakra matrix?" Minato almost wants to snort at the way Shikaku is playing the crowd, pretending that he doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't mind playing along, though, because this means the Nara head will be the one to lead the 'interrogation' about Hiri, and Minato would prefer that over Fugaku.

He doubts the Uchiha head will allow it to go on for long, though.

"Yes, I could." He doesn't let the hesitation show on his face, but he knows that this is the moment of truth. He's not sure he wants to share what happened to Obito with the clan heads either, especially since Obito's parents still don't know, but he doesn't have much of a choice if he is to explain Hiri's existence.

"The chakra matrix held a very close resemblance to one Uchiha Obito-" he says and from the corner of his eye sees Chouza draw in a startled breath. The Akimichi head had met Obito on several occasions, and they had gotten along the way only all-eaters could.

Inoichi has paled a little, the first to understand the implications of that statement, since he'd also met Obito a few times. The man doesn't look horrified yet, though, because Minato hasn't given out any details yet. Hasn't mentioned the rape, yet.

He holds up the file in front of Fugaku, who looks at it with slight confusion. Minato isn't too surprised the man couldn't place Obito's name. The Uchiha clan was a big one, and Obito hadn't been a genius, so the clan head wouldn't have bothered with learning any details about the boy.

He probably knows that Obito was the one on Minato's team, though, from the way his eyes suddenly pierce Minato's own.

Minato truly doesn't want to air Obito's trauma in front of the council, or have to tell anyone before he lets Obito's parents know, but Fugaku was the one that forced this, Fugaku is the one that will have to shoulder the guilt for such public dishonor of the dead.

"Did you find a possible timeline for when Obito-kun could have fathered a child?" Shikaku asks and Minato knows that he's trying to steer the debriefing in a direction that will enhance Fugaku's shame. It's only karma that Fugaku is shamed for bringing dishonor.

Minato tosses the file at Fugaku and the Uchiha snatches it out of the air with little trouble. "I did. Obito was eleven when he fathered Hiri and given the report that was filed, he hadn't assented to the act."

Rape as a means of torture is rare as the Hidden villages have long since learned far more horrifying ways of traumatizing prisoners; child rape is something that is rarer, even in the ninja world. One thing that keeps child rape from being more prolific is that shinobi can, and often are, hired to be especially brutal to the offender of the crime by the parents, guardians, or loved ones of the victim. Even a mildly kind stranger will occasionally hire a shinobi to avenge a victim of pedophilia.

What has happened to Obito is a major crime in the eyes of everyone Minato stands before. How Fugaku has aired this to non-clan confidants is dishonorable and Minato is fairly sure that until Fugaku cleanses himself and his clan of this dishonor, there will be a lot less respect for the military police.

Tsume growls from her perch between Shibi and her companion, Kuromaru. She's glaring at Fugaku and the file he's scouring. Shibi adjusts his glasses, which is the Aburame version of any kind of upset. At least, Minato thinks that's what it is. The kikaichū clan is even harder to read than Kakashi used to be when he was a robot.

"Eleven?" Chouza pipes up, sounding horrified. Minato nods grimly and sees Inoichi lay a hand on his friend's shoulder, though he has that look in his eyes he gets sometime while working, and Minato kind of wants to know what the man is thinking. He was never very good at torture, but he's sure Inoichi could rectify that.

Fugaku looks up from the file with sharingan eyes. In any normal circumstance that would be considered a threat, but Minato doesn't say anything. He's glad to see the clan head's anger for his late student. Perhaps it's not too late to try and get along with Fugaku after all.

"May I send two of the Military Police to investigate this closer?" The man grits out and Minato raises his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't think the clan head would volunteer his services without an order. He gives the man a measured nod with a trace of respect in it, and Fugaku relaxes his shoulders a little, though the hand gripping the file is still white-knuckled.

"Did the brat grow up with some hooker or something?" Tsume suddenly snaps out in the usual blunt Inuzuka way. Minato covers a wince at the question, squaring his shoulders to prepare himself for all the things he needs to say out loud.

Before a single syllable passes through Minato's lips, Fugaku is face to face with the Inuzuka, hands fisted in her semi-formal robes and snarling so ferociously that Kuromaru is inching backwards in submission.

"Seijun and Jiyuuri are not _whores_," He spits out and Minato realizes that Obito's parent's names are in the file that he'd given to the Uchiha. Obviously Fugaku knows Obito's parents, even if he hadn't been able to place Obito without a nudge in the right direction, he knows who Obito is now. "Just because they have chosen to live outside of the Uchiha compound and have a particular relationship does not demean them or Obito."

"Fugaku-san," Minato snaps gently, drawing Fugaku's attention back to himself, "Now is not the time to be discussing this."

Fugaku takes a deep breath, releases Tsume's robes, and returns to Minato's side, bowing his head slightly in difference, "Of course, Hokage-sama."

Minato doesn't know what the big deal about Seijun and Jiyuuri's relationship is, but given Shikaku and Chouza's expressions, they know something about it as well. It isn't something he needs to dwell on at the moment; he can ponder Hiri's grandparents after this meeting.

With a barely hidden shiver in her voice, Tsume spoke again, "Okay, then what the hell happened?"

"Obito was dosed in the Red Light district and came too three hours later. He never knew about Hiri," Minato prevaricates. He doesn't want to get into his own failure with Obito and he wants to speak of Hiri's past even less. Since the issue of the child had been brought before the council, Minato can't even ask for privacy to discuss Hiri with Fugaku and the boy's closest relatives. Thanks to this, Hiri would be discussed with the Council, which would also have nominal access to Hiri's file and life.

It was both a boon and a curse; Minato wanted Hiri to be protected and there wasn't much better protection than every clan leader in Konoha being concerned about the boy, but Minato also wanted the Hiri's life to be simple and easy for the boy which would be impossible with every clan leader in Konoha looking over Minato's shoulder at the boy.

He also doesn't know how Hiri will react to that either; he'd like to speak with the boy more - especially before Hiri meets with the Uchiha clan - and make a complete evaluation of Hiri's mental state, so he'll know how to best help the boy.

He turns his focus back to the matter at hand and continues, "No one on the team knew about it either. He never said anything, and if I hadn't gone through the reports this morning, I'd never have known." And that hurt. It hurt that Obito hadn't told him, and he could only pray that it hadn't been because he didn't trust Minato enough.

But he was also ashamed that he hadn't sensed anything about Obito's demeanor that mission, that he hadn't been able to tell something was off with the way his student had behaved.

"We are as of yet unaware of how long Hiri spent with his - _mother_," Minato hesitates slightly, unsure of how to proceed.

"Why don't you just ask the pup, then?" Tsume says, looking a little annoyed. Kuromaru barks in apparent agreement.

The question doesn't make this any easier. He needs to tell them about the abuse, of course, but he isn't sure if he should speak up about Harri. They know very little about Hiri's alter as of yet, and he doesn't want the boy locked up somewhere - or have that information handed to Danzo. But he does need to make sure they know how bad the abuse had been, and how hurt Hiri truly was.

"There is something you are unwilling to bring to our attention," Hiashi speaks up suddenly, in the precise tone most Hyuga's used at all times. His voice is cool, but not contemptuous, or even challenging. Just factual, and Minato takes a moment to get into the shinobi mindset and organize his thoughts.

"You're correct," Minato takes a deep breath, "I haven't told you a lot about Hiri-kun, only that he is an Uchiha." He turns and looks at Fugaku, "Whatever other information I have about the child should be limited to his family. I do not want to discuss Hiri-kun's personal demons with people who have no say in his life."

Shikaku doesn't even smirk as he speaks up, "But since he was brought before the council, Uchiha-san has effectively given us a place in Hiri's life."

The Nara is right and Fugaku seems to realize this because the Uchiha's face gets pinched and he glares at Shikaku with something akin to hate in his eyes.

Minato shakes his head, "Uchiha-san," he murmurs quietly, "Nara-san is correct in his assessment."

Fugaku chokes back a retort and bows his head, "I am a servant of the Hokage," he mutters. Minato can tell that Fugaku is now cursing himself for being so impetuous as to give up his singular claim over what he thought was a bastard child to a Council that will now watch his every move.

"So, what is it that you aren't telling us?" Tsume asks and she isn't loud this time. She can probably feel Minato's tension and she's must know that whatever it is that he doesn't want to talk about, it's bad. Really bad.

"Hiri-kun doesn't remember much of his mother, nor does he remember his father. What he does remember is someone he knows as 'Oba-sama' hitting him in the head with a frying pan full of hot grease. What he does remember is sleeping in a cupboard and not minding the spiders. What he does remember is a sensei forcing him to carve 'I will not tell lies' into his hand with a quill that drew blood. What he does remember is a sensei touching him and kissing him and raping him." Minato's voice is so quiet that everyone in the room is straining to hear him. Each word out of his mouth makes the killing intent in the room build and build and build.

He hadn't wanted to tell the council this and he's furious that Shikaku has pushed him into it. He doesn't know why the man would do that after having met Hiri in his house earlier, but he can see that the Nara has gone as bone-white as Fugaku had gone before. He probably realizes with each word that as bad it is for them to discuss Obito's assault at the age of eleven, it's even worse to have been the one to force an open discussion of the rape of a three year old - or possibly younger – child. Not that anyone but Minato knows he's done this, of course.

Aburame Shibi raises a hand and Minato stops speaking. "Please, I do not wish to know more," he murmurs, his usually blank voice full of disgust, "What I wish to know is the name of the man I am going to hunt down to murder."

Shinobi don't 'murder' per se; they complete missions. For Shibi to have stated that he was going to hunt someone down and murder them means that he is prepared to forgo payment from a mission and act outside of shinobi law for personal matters or gain.

An admission like that usually results in the speaker having a few sessions with the Torture and Interrogation department, but Minato is going to overlook that. After all, Shibi isn't the only one who plans on not waiting for a mission scroll to obtain revenge for Hiri.

Kuromaru's fur is standing on end and Tsume is wearing a very canine expression of fury on her face, with her knees bent as if in preparation for a leap.

"If you have anything Hiri has worn since before he got here, one of my ninken could smell it out and have a scent to track," she snarls heavily and leans forward to look Minato in the eye. The outright suggestion on how to track down someone for murder is more than Shibi's implicit statement and if Minato sanctions it, he knows Tsume will start implementing the suggestion as soon as possible.

"I'll have it ready by tomorrow," he tells her. Today he just wanted to focus on getting through this damn meeting, and then go back to his team and hug Hiri.

Inoichi speaks up from where he's perched in the upper corner of the room. He's leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and though he's wearing a twisted expression of disgust he's not as pale as his teammate. Well, Inoichi did work in T&I, so that was no surprise.

"Has the boy been properly- examined?"

There is a peculiar kind of silence after the blond asks the question, a kind of nauseous quiet that feels heavy to breathe in. Minato is glad that the man has managed to stay pragmatic in the face of all the anger filling the room, though. It shows his competence.

He shakes his head in answer to the question. It was too soon, and even the scan Rin had done - the one that required no physical contact - had left Hiri shaking in fright. Minato didn't know what a more invasive exam would do, especially if he also considered how _Harri_ might react to it.

Though, now that he thinks of it, Harri might be the preferred one to have in control for the physical exam. Hiri is far too fragile for someone, even _Rin_, to touch him where he's only ever been violated before. Harri was more likely to understand why he needed to be checked over, why Rin would need to spread his legs and touch him where no child should ever be touched.

His fury rises as he thinks of what Hiri's been through and he can't control himself as his fist clenches and his lips twist into a nasty snarl. He hasn't been allowed to show his anger, show his fear and rage because he's been around Hiri and Rin and Kakashi but here; here, in this room, with these people who understand, he can let go, just a little.

Not too much though. No, he can't let all his fury show here because he's too strong, too _feared_.

"Fuck," He mutters under his breath as he drags a hand through his blond locks roughly, trying to calm himself. The fluctuating levels of killing intent in the room aren't helping him keep in control of himself, but all he has to do is imagine Hiri watching him with soft, injured green eyes and his breathing calms and his face relaxes and he backs away from the killing edge with little less than a blink.

He's the only one in the room who manages to calm down. Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, the retired Sandaime, is angry. Sarutobi has children though, so his anger is tainted with fear, like Tsume's. He's scared for his children, trying not to imagine his own sons in Hiri's position.

"Minato-sama," Sarutobi stands, his advisors behind him shooting him curious looks. Apparently they don't know what he's going to say either, "Hiri-kun has no one in charge of him, legally."

It's not really a question, but Minato nods and answers anyway, "Correct, Sarutobi-sama."

"Then, since he has been claimed and proven as Uchiha, his proxy guardian would be Uchiha Fugaku until he is adopted, correct?" This question is aimed at Fugaku since different clans have different laws and Minato watches as the Uchiha nods. "In that case, I believe that this meeting should be called to an end. Obviously the Council will want to keep an eye on Hiri, as we have been inadvertently invited into his life, but at this point, I believe that Fugaku-san and Minato-sama should continue their discussion of Hiri in private."

There are nods all around, and the clan heads rise almost as one to exit the room. They bow to him as they pass in complete silence, and Minato just knows that by the end of the hour the fact that all clan heads are upset about something will have spread through the village. He sometimes wishes that the shinobi grapevine would be a little less potent, even if it could be useful at times.

Sarutobi puts a hand on his shoulder, meeting his eyes, before he steps out the door and leaves Minato and the Uchiha head alone in the room. Fugaku seems to slump a little before Minato's eyes and the fact that this proud man would allow himself to show even that small weakness tells Minato that Fugaku is very disturbed by these events.

As cruel as it might seem, Minato is happy about it. He won't let Hiri be used as a pawn, and he still doesn't have a trustworthy opinion of this man. But that he's showing more of his humanity than his shinobi side in this situation speaks for him.

"Fugaku-san, I believe I should introduce you to Hiri-kun."

Minato watches the way the man's Adam's apple bobs before he nods, and feels like he's driving through what may be a test to measure Fugaku's trustworthiness.

They walk out the large doors to see Kakashi and Hiri step out from a door to the side of the corridor. Minato is sure Kakashi stepped into the small room when he felt the clan heads leaving, and approves of his student's thoughtfulness. It would only have frightened Hiri to have seen so many adults pass him by, and expecting each and every one of them to try and hurt him in some way.

He knows Fugaku and Kakashi don't like each other, and he's not planning on forcing them to get along at this point in time; there is too much bad blood between them at the moment for something like that to happen. But he will demand a ceasefire of all sneers and glares between them for as long as they are in Hiri's company, and he signs as much to the both of them.

After receiving terse nods in reply, he tells Kakashi what he wants to do and asks him to wake the sleeping boy in his arms. Kakashi looks none too happy about it, but complies all the same, probably seeing the necessity to introduce the relatives to each other.

"Hiri-kun?" Kakashi strokes the side of Hiri's face and the child yawns, eyes still closed, and his head rolls into Kakashi's neck.

"'ka-san," Hiri mutters quietly and Minato smirks at the look on Fugaku's face. The Uchiha doesn't realize that Hiri _hasn't_ called Kakashi his mother, but it sure sounds like it with how the child slurred out Kakashi's name and it's a little hilarious to watch the man try to get past that intellectual bump.

"Hiri-kun, can you wake up for me?" Kakashi pets Hiri softly and the child yawns again, but lifts his head, his hands going to his eyes and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Hiri's lethargic eyes go wide when he sees Fugaku standing beside Minato and his hands drop from his face. He blinks quickly several times and leans tightly into Kakashi. "Kaka-nii?" He asks, his gaze shifting from Fugaku to Minato and back again.

"Hiri-kun, this is Uchiha Fugaku," Minato is pretty damn proud that Kakashi doesn't sneer at the head of the Uchiha's.

"L-like," Hiri's mouth drops open, "Like my name? Uchiha Hiri?"

"Yeah," Kakashi smiles and rubs Hiri's dark hair, "Like your family name. Uchiha-sama is the leader of all the Uchiha's."

"-Uchiha-sama is the head of the family?" Hiri looks Fugaku up and down as surreptitiously as possible, which, when the child is being observed by three shinobi, isn't much.

"Yes," Kakashi murmurs to him, "Uchiha-sama is the head of your family."

Hiri's face goes completely blank and his eyes dull immediately. His body sags in Kakashi's arms and it takes a moment for Kakashi to rearrange the boy in his arms so he doesn't drop him accidentally.

Minato is more than worried. He's never seen Hiri do this before. He can only hope that Hiri doesn't have another alter that will come out. He thinks that one alter is more than enough for a three year old.

Fugaku shoots him a glance from the corner of his eye, but Minato doesn't acknowledge him, too focused on Hiri. Kakashi is stroking his sternum with even movements, trying to wake him up. The motion grows more panicky as the boy fails to respond, but just when Minato is about to call for Rin to do something, life bleeds back into Hiri's eyes.

There is a pause, as Hiri untwists from Kakashi's grip and turns towards Fugaku. A small hand is holding onto his student's vest as the boy leans forward. "You are not going to kill me?" He asks, sounding uncertain. Minato is immediately jolted from his worry to full-on anger. That should not be the first thing a family member asks his head of clan.

Though considering that that was just what Fugaku was planning to do when he called the meeting, Minato feels a bit vindicated when the man stiffens a little at the question. He doubts anyone else could so effectively have caused a guilt-trip.

"No, child," Fugaku murmurs quietly, and there is a warmth in the usually cold man's voice that startles both Minato and Kakashi. Minato is sure he's not the only one who thought the dour man incapable of such displays of emotion.

Hiri wrinkles his nose a little, laying his head back down on Kakashi's shoulder. He nods slightly, though he doesn't seem as reassured as the movement suggests. He's not any more frightened than before though, and Minato wonders - and hopes - that it is because he and Kakashi and Rin are all here, and that Hiri trusts them to protect him.

"It's nice to meet you," he whispers, and though Minato knows it's just a phrase to the boy, a politeness that his _Oba-sama_ has beat into his head, it still relaxes him a bit to see Fugaku returning the phrase genuinely. He's sure the man has noticed that Hiri is more scared of retribution than glad to meet him, but there is a calmness in Hiri as he curls into Kakashi when the greetings are done that warms Minato a little.

But then ugly reality sets in when Hiri looks like he's about to fall asleep watching his new head of clan.

"Hiri-kun," Minato speaks up, with a lump in his throat. He doesn't want to break the semi-peaceful mood the boy is in, but it's better to get the exam over with, now that they're all gathered.

Fugaku needed to be there anyway as Hiri's proxy guardian and Minato sure as hell isn't going to let anyone other than Rin do the exam.

"Hai, Namikaze-sama?" Hiri licks his lips and blinks so very slowly and Minato is beginning to get a little worried. No matter how much Rin says that toddlers need sleep, he is sure that how much sleep Hiri is getting isn't right.

Maybe, he thinks, it's a sign of healing. Though more likely it's a sign of how injured Hiri really is. The child isn't bleeding and doesn't have broken bones, but Minato knows that Hiri's body is unnaturally stressed and used and _old_ for his age.

"Are you comfortable at my house, Hiri-kun?" He doesn't want to take Hiri to the hospital even if the place is sterile because he wants Hiri to feel safe. Most people don't feel safe in a hospital even if it is a place of healing.

Hiri frowns and nods, "Hai, Namikazi-sama," he whispers.

Rin speaks up before he can continue. Minato isn't surprised that she knows he plans on Hiri getting examined, "Hiri-kun, how do you like hospitals?"

Hiri's frown deepens, but it's not from fear, "Like-" He bites his lips almost clear through and Rin reaches out with a tiny smile to brush across his mouth with a finger, green chakra that matches Hiri's eyes closing the wound that he inflicted on himself, "Like an infirmary?"

"Yes," Rin nods, "Like an infirmary."

"I don't mind," Hiri smiles then, and Minato sighs silently in relief. There are so many tripwires with Hiri and his past that he's glad he knows of another place where Hiri won't feel uncomfortable. It's good to know that Hiri isn't afraid of hospitals as well.

Fugaku is looking at him with a confused curiosity and Minato signs to the man that he'll explain more later, when they're alone. Hiri has secrets that hurt him and Minato wants Fugaku aware of how difficult this is going to be.

The gentle expression on Fugaku's face as he watches Hiri, tells Minato that Fugaku is human, and that he does care. A feeling of hope rises in Minato's chest and something releases inside of him. He thinks he might be glad that there is someone else his age who knows about Hiri so he doesn't have to bear this burden of knowledge as the sole adult.

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**Reviews are motivation :)  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: **Obito's Legacy - _Rin_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, post-rape/abuse/child endangerment, disturbing themes

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** **MATURE. ****This chapter is very DISTURBING and has medical aftermath DESCRIPTIONS OF RAPE and ABUSE. It will disturb MOST if not ALL readers. There is a reason the rating is MATURE.**

**YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.**

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They all go together to the hospital, jumping across the roofs agilely. Hiri is burrowed down firmly into Kakashi's neck and her teammate is holding onto the boy so tightly it's a wonder the child doesn't complain. Honestly, she's a bit jealous of how quickly Hiri and Kakashi have become close. She'd never try to come between them in any way, since the two of them were the ones who needed this connection the most, but she kind of wishes that Hiri would have accepted her as family as quickly as he'd accepted Kakashi.

She would have liked hearing him call her 'nee-chan' and cling to her as if she was a shield he'd trust to protect him, the way he does with Kakashi. Especially now that she's going to traumatize him by way of an exam.

Rin is more than scared that Hiri will consider this a betrayal, that he'll revert back to seeing her as a potential abuser. It'll hurt. It'll hurt like she hasn't felt since Obito died if that happens. But she'll do what she has to, because it is for Hiri's own good. He could be badly hurt, or he could have scarring from - objects, or even weapons...

Rin tastes bile in the back of her throat and swallows convulsively. She doesn't really want to know that details of how Hiri's been hurt, and doesn't want to force him to tell her if she does find scarring, but she'll do whatever she has to ensure his body will heal. She can't do anything for his mind, and she can't be the older sibling Kakashi is - not after this - but she'll damn well treat him to the best of her abilities.

They enter the hospital together, with Uchiha-san and Minato flanking her and Kakashi. Hiri is barely visible and they move quickly through the rooms so as to avoid calling attention to the bundle in Kakashi's arms. They garner some looks as they pass, but there is enough anger in Minato's face for them to even attempt asking about what's going on.

"In here," Rin says, and smiles to Hiri when he looks up at her. The cutest little smile turns his lips and Rin dreads the moment that smile will slip off his face when he understands what she's going to do. She's not even sure he will understand; that he'll be able to tell the difference between what his abusers did to him and what she's going to do.

She looks up at Kakashi, whose eye is narrowed and lips pulled back in a grimace. He's trying to look sympathetic, but the expression seems more painful than anything. She knows he must be thinking along the same paths she is, and what this might cost her. They could call for someone else to do this exam- but that _would_ be a betrayal of Hiri's shaky trust, and Rin can only hope that maybe someday, when Obito's son is older...

...he'll understand.

Minato and Fugaku stand against the wall next to the door that her sensei has locked behind him, being the last person into the room. He doesn't want this process disturbed and she nods her thanks to him. She doesn't want any interruptions either; the sooner this is over, the sooner she can try to fix her betrayal of Hiri.

She knows that it's not truly betrayal, but that's what it will feel like to Hiri. It's the one thought she keeps coming back to.

Kakashi sets Hiri down on the bed and the tired little boy blinks up at them with trust in his eyes. Rin blinks back tears and gathers a hospital gown from the shelf.

"Rin-sama?" Hiri asks, watching her hands with interest. He doesn't seem to understand what she's about to ask of him and she swallows the lump in her throat.

"Hiri-kun, let's get you changed into this, okay?" He smiles at her and Kakashi draws the curtain between them and the adults.

She starts by helping him take his sweater off and then his shirt. His body is so emaciated and it hurts her to look at him.

His arms go into the gown and Kakashi stands him up on the bed at her direction. She's very careful to ask Hiri before reaching for his pants and undoing the button. He's still very sleepy and doesn't seem realize what she's doing even as she tells him that she's going to check him over for injuries.

She has to wonder if he's been checked over by a medic before, because he seems to think its normal to be dressed in a gown in a hospital - in an infirmary - and she hates the stories his scars tell her. He's obviously spent a lot of time in a hospital.

When he lies down on his back, his head on the soft pillow and Kakashi holding his hand, Rin cups his cheek carefully. She has to explain what she's going to do before she does it.

"Hiri-kun, I'm going to check you over now, okay?"

Hiri nods rather indifferently, his eyes focused on Kakashi instead of her.

Maybe he does understand what she's going to do and just doesn't care.

She tells him that she's going to lift his left arm before she does it and he doesn't seem bothered. She runs her hands over his fingers, over his palm, over his wrist and up his forearm to his elbow. She can see through her chakra the previous breaks in his arm. His wrist has been fractured once and his elbow dislocated. Nothing major -_ for an adult shinobi_ - so far.

She talks as her hands wander further up his arm to his shoulder. It's been dislocated at least twice and the scars, inside and out, indicate that he's been stabbed four times. One the stabbings has resulted in a blade being jammed into the joint and she is as gentle as she can as she heals the cartilage so that his arm won't be as prone to continue dislocating as it is right now.

It angers her to feel against her fingertips - so intimately - how badly he's been hurt, but she keeps her medic's mask like a shield to stop any threatening expressions from showing. She's doing it for Kakashi's sake as well. Her teammate is so tuned to everything going on around Hiri that he'll probably react just as adversely to any negativity she might show.

She runs her hand lightly over his left collarbone. It's been broken two times, with spider cracks having formed around the breaks, which tells her it was done with a blunt object. She mends the cracks carefully, working her way to the badly healed breaks and smoothing them out.

She continues downward to his emaciated chest, feeling previously torn muscles and bumps from broken ribs. Hiri has broken his ribs many times, in several different places and at several different points in time. She finds breaks within the breaks and her hand trembles slightly when she patches up the series of bumps that forms an indentation in the middle of the boy's chest.

Someone had stomped on him in the past. Stepped on him hard enough to break his ribs badly enough for them to have dug into his lungs. She's very thankful they don't seem to have actually punctured the lungs, just ripped up scrapes that had healed on their own. It shouldn't have caused him too much trouble when it healed, thankfully.

Most of his burns are superficial, so it's just the scar tissue that she massages chakra into, trying to lessen the white markings over his chest.

She moves on to his right arm, not wanting to go any further down his body yet. She murmurs to him quietly and he smiles, the warmth of her chakra making him tired. Rin finds that his right arm has been injured less than his left, though there are marks from two major wounds. The first is the jagged scar on the inside of his elbow. A wound this big on a child this small would usually result in death within minutes from blood loss. She doesn't know how he survived, but she's glad he did.

She wants to ask how he got this scar and it's the look in Kakashi's steel eye that finally forces her to ask out loud.

"Hiri-kun, how did you get this scar on your elbow?" She tries hard to make it sound unimportant because she doesn't want her sensei or Fugaku pulling the curtain aside to stare at Hiri and make him nervous. She thinks that Minato already knows what scar she's talking about anyway, since he's seen Hiri naked before.

"The little man who cut his arm off, he cut me open for my blood," Hiri murmurs, not really paying attention to what he says. Rin is horrified as he continues talking, "He cut me open and then he cut his arm off. It bled a lot. He put it into a jutsu."

Jutsu like that; ones that require that much blood, unlike a simple summons, are disgusting. Rin has never heard of a jutsu that required an arm, but she has heard of jutsu that require blood and it makes her sick to think that there are even worse jutsu out there that are being practiced.

"Why did the little man need your blood?" She asks gently, her chakra soothing his elbow joint and the top of his radius and ulna where there are indications of pressure cracks.

"He wanted to make a body," Hiri blinks and his head lolls towards Kakashi and Kakashi strokes his hair out of his eyes. Kakashi smiles at Hiri and Hiri smiles back, "Shinohikou wanted to live forever and needed to make a new body. His old one was gone."

There's a sudden silence from the other side of the curtain and Rin knows that both adults have gone completely still, listening in on their conversation.

She doesn't want Hiri to focus on what she's doing, so she asks the obvious question, "Who is Shinohikou?"

Hiri's eyes close and his face reflects pain for a moment before smoothing out, "The snake man," He mutters and Kakashi's hold on his tiny hand tightens. Hiri doesn't open his eyes.

Kakashi looks up from Hiri's face to Rin and Rin is as shocked at her teammate. They had thought that the snake man was Orochimaru, that the minions in white masks had been ANBU.

But maybe not; maybe Shinohikou was from a different village; maybe the ANBU hadn't been from Konoha.

The teenagers with cold faces and steady hands though- Rin knew of no other village that had a division like Ne. If the teenagers that Hiri knew had been Ne, then Danzo has either committed treason by working with another village in secret or he has lost control of his troops and Konoha has to start cleaning up the mess.

Rin's hands smooth down Hiri's arm, running over the large round scar just under the end of the cut she was soothing. She lifts his arm and looks at the other side of the elbow and can see a smaller scar underneath where the larger scar is.

Her chakra tells her that there are chips of bone missing from Hiri's radius and ulna between the scars and she knows that something has gone all the way through Hiri's arm.

She hesitates to ask him about it though, because he's still in that sleepily peaceful mood, but she needs to know this. The _Hokage _needs to know this if they are to hunt down the bastards who cause Hiri so much pain.

And with the way Hiri seems unaware what he's saying, perhaps it won't be too traumatizing for him to answer. She's not sure how long this mood will last - _not long_, her mind snarls as it throws pictures about the rape kit exam to the forefront - and it feels like she's manipulating him a little, asking things this way.

She wonders if it'd be too weak of her to ask Kakashi to continue questioning the boy, if that would speak against her as a medic and as a person, or if it was a weakness she'd be permitted under the circumstances. It is hard enough having to feel all the injuries this intimately; having to question him at the same time was agony.

But then, what is she complaining about, really? She wasn't the one who'd gone through this. Rin knits together a frayed nerve ending in Hiri's forearm and the boy flinches back a little.

She murmurs soothingly to him, hoping to keep him calm and lethargic. A relaxed child is easier to assess than one tense with fear or apprehension.

"Hiri-kun, do you remember what happened to your arm here?" Kakashi looks up at her with stern eyes and she gives him a look that the medical profession had let her perfect, one that said 'It has to be done for the good of the patient'.

Hiri's head rolls back towards her and he looks down at his arm in her hands and reaches over to stroke over the circular scar with his thumb. "It went all the way through," he blinks slowly, "It hurt a lot. It was poisoned."

Fear grips her heart with a suddenness that takes her breath away and Rin's eyes widen as she frantically collected her chakra for a full body pulse.

Kakashi had been right after all; all toddlers sleep a lot, but not to the extent that Hiri has been. Maybe the poison that never cleared his system.

She can feel alarm and confusion from where the adults are and she can _see_ the fear in Kakashi. She has to ignore it as she carefully preps her chakra, rests one hand on Hiri's forehead and the other over his heart and releases it into his body.

Hiri's eyes widen and he tries to sit up with a startled cry but she's holding him down because she can't have him move too much while her chakra is searching out the poison.

There it is, hidding in his blood. Rin's eyes narrow and she studies the last vestiges of the slowly vanishing poison. She can also tell that Hiri's been given an all purpose antidote as well that seems to be working, but there is something in Hiri's blood that isn't right. She traces the poison back to the most concentrated part and finds that the source doesn't seem to be the wound, but centered in his _heart_.

"-impossible," She murmurs to herself; it's impossible for Hiri's heart to be poisoned and he yet not be dead. The poison isn't increasing or decreasing in concentration in his heart either, so whatever it is that's in his blood, it's not really harming him because he's had it for a while now. She pulls her chakra back from his body slowly, confused.

"Rin?" Minato's voice carries through the curtain separating them and Rin shakes herself out of her daze. "Rin, what's impossible?"

"Sensei..." She trails off and bites her lower lip. Kakashi cocks his head to the side and Hiri is staring at her, his eyes shuttered. It pains her to know that Hiri is now apprehensive of her because of her misplaced haste.

"What is it, Rin?" Minato asks again and she can hear the push in his voice that means he wants answers from her.

She's not ready to give him answers though, because she doesn't have an answer herself.

"Rin-sama?" Hiri whispers almost silently and she tries to smile for him, stroking his cheek with her fingertips.

"Shh, it's okay Hiri-kun, you aren't poisoned." He is, and yet he isn't.

Kakashi breathes in relief and she dreads having to explain what she's found later when she gives her report. He has nothing to be relieved about.

She's not sure how this could even be possible, but a human body can't sustain venom by itself, so this is a sign that something is very wrong. She doesn't even know why that surprises her; everything is wrong with the poor boy. She wouldn't be too surprised if Hiri had been experimented on, but it wasn't something she'd bring up right now, with Hiri's eyes so closed off.

She smiles weakly, not quite daring to reach out to touch his cheek again. She doesn't want to know if he'd flinch away from her.

But now she has to continue with the exam. That means that she's going to have to touch him in ways that will seem like a betrayal. She catches Kakashi's eyes and he can see her hesitation.

She's surprised, though only for a moment, when Kakashi takes both of Hiri's hands and starts to talk to him in a low, gentle voice. She realizes that he's reciting the book that Hiri had been reading in Minato's house, the one about the 'gutsy shinobi' and she has to smile when Hiri relaxes as Kakashi's words flow over him.

She murmurs that she's going to lift his gown over his waist and Hiri doesn't even bother to look down when she does what she'd said she was going to do. He doesn't look bothered at all at being mostly naked in front of her and it's frightening to think that maybe he's never had much in the way of clothing where he used to live.

Mentally bracing herself, Rin murmurs under Kakashi's story telling that she's going to touch his knee, lift his leg, bend his knee to his chest. Hiri hears her and glances at her with dark eyes every time Kakashi takes a breath to continue the story.

She doesn't like this; she doesn't like having to do this to Hiri. She can see, when she lifts his leg, the purple discoloration of perianal venous congestion. She knows that this venous pooling is a commonly found in children whose thighs are flexed on their hips for extended periods of time.

When she tells him that she's going to touch him between his legs, under his penis, Hiri goes completely still and his eyes go wide and he stops breathing altogether.

"Hiri?" Kakashi strokes his hair and whispers in his ear and thankfully Hiri starts to breathe again.

But when he looks at her, it's not the Hiri she knows who's looking out of his green eyes.

"Finish the exam please, Rin-sama," His voice is _dead_ and it scares her and Kakashi's hand is squeezing the edge of the exam table to tightly that his knuckles are white.

"Harri," Kakashi says and the boy she doesn't know, the alter that she hasn't meet until know, turns his attention to Kakashi.

She never wanted to meet Harri. To her, Harri is a symbol of everything Hiri has ever lost and she doesn't want to think about that.

She's trying to be as gentle as she can be, which means that she doesn't touch him suddenly, but trails her fingers in from his hip. As her fingers glide over his skin, she watches, _horrified_, as she sees an anal dilation; most likely a learned reflex to lessen anticipated pain. She pulls her hand away, lowers Hiri's legs, and covers him with the gown. Harri watches her leave the curtained off area of the room with distant eyes.

Minato is hovering right at the edge of the curtain, not far from Fugaku and she latches onto him like he is her lifeline.

"Mina-sensei-" She's crying now. She can't help it. Minato's hand strokes her hair and she buries her face in his shirt and he rocks her back and forth.

It takes a long time for her to get a hold of herself.

Sniffling and rubbing away her tears - _and when did she take her gloves off?_ she questions herself absently -, she leans away from Minato and takes a step back, running her hands over her hair to straighten it and tried to breathe in a controlled manner. Minato's eyes met hers and she holds back another sob.

She can see his pain reflecting hers in his face and she has to turn away from him before she starts to cry again.

A hand comes down on her shoulder and she looks up into black eyes and a pale face. "Shiranui-san," Fugaku's voice is very quiet, "Are you alright?"

Shaking her head, she angrily wipes away more tears, "I'm just _fine_," she snarls at him, knowing that just a bit ago he was advocating for Hiri's death, "It's Hiri-kun who's injured."

Fugaku's head snaps back like she's backhanded him - and in a way she has; it was just a verbal backhand, not a physical one. He regains his composure and removes his hand from her shoulder. "Will he be alright?"

"I-" She shakes her head and tries again, "I haven't finished the exam yet," She refuses to look at Fugaku, instead she directs her words to her sensei, "Given what I've found so far, Hiri has years of healing ahead of him. I should also warn you that Hiri may have been experimented on because there is something very wrong with his heart that cannot, in any way, be natural. It's not endangering his life at the moment, but until I've had more chakra contact with the-" She pauses and stresses the next word because she isn't sure what word to use, "-_problem_, I'm not going to know exactly what's wrong."

Minato's doesn't flinch from the short report. He knew that it was going to be bad, just like she knew it was going to be bad but she has to remember that he wasn't the one that saw a three year old's body respond to touch in an unconsciously - _reflexive_ - sexual manner.

Granted, a reflex anal dilation doesn't always occur from sexual abuse, sometimes a body just responds like that without _training_, sometimes it's just natural intermittent dilation, which is common in most children during physical exams.

But in Hiri, this sort of dilation can't be anything other than a response to his chronic abuse.

She's not sure she wants to report that just yet, though, because although they are speaking very quietly, she doesn't want to mention this with Hiri in the same room. She wants the whole examination over and done, so she can report everything and then go and have some kind of violent reaction; punching, vomiting, or screaming are the only things she wants to do right now.

But she is a medic, and she's not willing to vent before she has performed her duties. She hugs Minato again and clings to him for a moment longer, forcibly calming herself down before she has to return back to the other side of the curtain. She can hear Kakashi mumbling reassuring things, but no responses are coming from Hiri. Harri. The boy in the bed.

Under any other circumstances, she'd have been embarrassed and borderline horrified by her misconduct - leaving a patient in the middle of an exam! - but she's been on a knife's edge for the past few days, and the fact that this is Obito's son, and that Hiri is such a young child, just leaves her feeling tired. She almost wishes she was just a bit more jaded as a shinobi, so she'd be able to put her emotions aside for this.

She wipes the tears from her face, quickly healing the slight redness around her eyes and straightening, before nodding to her sensei and twitching in Fugaku's direction. She thinks she sees a hint of pride behind the pain in Minato's eyes, and that leaves her with some strength to draw upon.

When she reenters the curtained off area, Harri is curled up on his side, leaning into Kakashi's hands as her teammate murmurs comforting words into his hair. Kakashi looks up at her, never breaking the stride of words, and the pain in his eye almost makes it glow. She's envious of how he can keep his words so warm and calming despite his obvious emotional turmoil, and tries to smile at him. She knows she's not succeeding, but she doubts he'd expected her too.

"Hi- Harri-kun?" she speaks up tentatively, trying to keep a quiver from entering her voice. Harri looks up from where his forehead had been pressed into Kakashi's knuckles, and that horrible persistent emptiness in the alter's green eyes scare her. Was this side of Hiri always like this? She'd almost prefer Hiri's hysterics over this old, quiet - _resigned_ - fear that seems to have numbed Harri.

"Yes, Rin-sama?"

His voice is as dead as his eyes, with the same kind of resigned despair clinging to it like _bile_, and Rin almost wants to take a step back, because this is not a three year old in front of her. This is someone so much older than that, someone more dead than alive, and this person can't be a part of Hiri- because- because it already hurt before this, and now the pain is almost suffocating.

She steps forward slowly and Harri watches her every move with a wary gaze that she wishes he wouldn't direct towards her. She reaches out a hand that is steady against all odds, and very lightly places it on the top of his head, trying to disregard the flinch that causes.

"I have to do this exam, to try to heal you if you need it." Harri is as still as a statue under her hand, but she's sure he's listening to her. She takes a fortifying breath before she continues, "We'll take it very slow, and whenever you want me to stop, we'll stop and have a break."

She wants to ask if he's alright with that, but a question like that would be insulting in its stupidity; of course it's not alright. But this needs to be done, because if she lets this go, and Hiri _is_ hurt and _does_ need healing - which she's almost entirely sure he does - she'd never forgive herself for not being strong enough to do what needed to be done, no matter how much it would hurt them both.

She can't imagine how hard it'll be to ask him what happened, if - when - she finds something that needs to be healed. Maybe she should ask first, to see if Harri knows what might need mending. But no, he probably wouldn't tell her anyway, not if she couldn't ask some form of leading questions. She doubts she would in this situation. She is a stranger to the alter, after all.

She moves her hand from the tousled mop of black hair and gets into the same position as before, asking Harri to lay back. She can only hope he'll have the strength to try again.

As she pulls a new pair of gloves on, Kakashi starts speaking again, but this time he's asking Harri questions instead of telling a story. The questions that he's asking are not the kind of questions that will keep Harri calm.

"Harri, do you remember the name of the blond man who touched Hiri?" She wonders why Kakashi would differentiate between Harri and Hiri to the boy, but when Harri answers, she sort of gets it.

"No. Hiri wasn't the one that was touched."

Oh. Rin suddenly realizes that even though Hiri is getting the memories, they are disjointed and not really understandable; she understands that the memories aren't Hiri's, but Harri's. Harri was the one that was raped, not Hiri, because Harri is the protector, Harri would take over if something bad was happening to him- them.

Rin tells Harri that she's going to touch him and he barely even glances at her.

"Do you remember the name of the man who hurt you?" Kakashi asks quietly and Harri's body flinches from Rin's fingers. She knows that it's not from the coldness of the gel.

"No. He was just my sensei who never taught me anything."

Kakashi strokes Harri's hand gently, "What about the sensei that made you write this on your hand?"

Rin has checked those scars on his hand already and she knows that they'd never been infected and it's strange to think that such open wounds wouldn't collect dirt when Hiri was a drudgery slave to others at the same time as being injured.

"She wouldn't let us do anything but read." Harri's head bows and his whispers, "And write."

Rin suppresses a snort. Oh yeah, that bitch taught Hiri to write. _In his own blood._ She controls herself and slowly twists her hand, searching for any open fissures. She can feel the scars immediately - making her blood boil in building anger - and she can feel how lax Hiri's muscles are. It makes her so mad that she's tempted to leave again, but she can't because she can't leave Harri again. She won't let Kakashi deal with this alone either.

A silver head bows close to an inky black head and Kakashi rests his forehead against Harri's. "Have you ever had a nice sensei?"

"Um-" Harri jerks under her hands and gives a pained groan, his free hand drifting down to his lower belly, his fingers fluttering across the paper gown. "Err- yes," He mutters, shuddering again.

She wants to apologize for making him uncomfortable, for touching him like this. Her cheeks hurt from chewing the inside of her mouth and her eyes sting from repressed tears and she thinks that she's going to have a very hard time looking Hiri in the eyes for a long time after today.

Chakra pools in her hand and she gently nudges her hand closer to Hiri, rubbing the healing deeper into him. She's found one half healed fissure and she's not about to leave it unhealed. After all, she has more than enough chakra to heal his whole body. Hiri is so very tiny, after all.

As horrible as it is to know how badly as his body has been injured, Harri is proof that Hiri's mind has been injured worse.

Kakashi must have felt the increase of her chakra production because he takes a deep breath, "Harri, I know you want to keep secrets, but can you tell me who the last person to hurt you was?" Maybe if they can figure out who the last one was, they can find out when the last time he'd been hurt was.

Rin can only hope that since all of Hiri's friends are dead that they've managed to kill some of Hiri's enemies before they'd died.

"Shinohikou," Harri answers as his shoulders strain against the bed then relax and he sighs when Rin takes her hand away from him.

She's glad that she's managed to finish that part of the exam. She's healed the only fissure that was left and relieved some of the minor scarring as well as tempering his rectal muscles with chakra so that Hiri has better control. He's only three and his natural growth with age would likely rid him of the laxity, but she wants to make sure that he doesn't have any problems, either now or later on.

Green eyes watch as she peels the gloves off and dispose of them in the hazardous waste bin and wipes the powder from the gloves off her fingers. She can see that he is also relieved that she's done with that part of the exam. All she has left to check over is his legs and then she can leave the room, find the closest bathroom and go throw up the last three meals that she's eaten.

"What happened to Shinohikou?" Kakashi draws Harri's attention back to him and Harri tells Kakashi that the man killed him, that the last time he was hurt, Shinohikou killed him.

There is a gasp from outside of the curtain and she's abruptly reminded that Fugaku doesn't know any of this, that all of this is completely new to the man. She would wonder how the Uchiha is taking it, but she can see an outline of Minato grabbing his arm and keeping Fugaku in a stationary position. She thinks - hopes - that Fugaku wants to leave and go kill something to release his anger.

She's vindictive enough to want him to feel helpless and shamed; for even contemplating killing Hiri-kun, who has already been through so much pain, she wants the man to hurt. She doubts that even if he continues acting somewhat human she'll ever trust him.

She turns her focus back to Harri and Kakashi, because Kakashi's question is a question she'd very much like the answer to. She knows a few choice things she'd like to do to this Shinohikou person, and since she's a medic, she could keep him aware for as long as she wanted. She is sure Kakashi and even Sensei, would want to join in.

Harri frowns guardedly, and there is a rather long pause before he answers, "He... after he killed me-" and some time she wants to know what he means by that, too, "-things went back to how they were before..." and that isn't an answer at all, but Harri's eyes ages with his words, showing such grief, that she was afraid to ask him to clarify. Harri continues speaking, "-and then we ended up here, in the forest, and Kaka-nii found us..." he trails off, turning his face to curl around Kakashi's hand a little. Kakashi leans over him like the protective older brother he's become and strokes hair away from his eyes.

Harri completely ignores her now, as she probes his legs carefully, looking for something - _anything_ - that she can heal. She wants to do as much as she can for Obito's son, but not just because Hiri is Obito's son. She's realized that she loves Hiri for Hiri. Had he been unrelated to her teammate, she knows that she would still feel the same about Hiri. Having gone through so much together in so little time, there is no way she'd have been able to feel any other way.

Her fingers find prominent scars on the backs of Hiri's legs, just above his knees. She asks him to lay on his stomach and he rolls over without a word. Kakashi hugs his shoulders and looks down his body to see the same scars that she now sees: thick, ropy scars that bisect the femoral artery in both legs. There are also hesitation scars, just little white marks that speak of uncertainty in the hands of the wielder of the blade.

They look, to Rin, as though Hiri thought he had found a way out but couldn't get a firm grip on the blade of the knife he must have stolen. The scars look like Hiri had tried to escape via death. She wonders if he'd tried to kill himself before or after his friends started dying.

Kakashi strokes Hiri's neck as Rin covers the scars in her chakra, hoping to reduce the scar tissue.

"Harri, do you remember what happened to your legs?" Kakashi asks in a quiet voice, but as quiet as his voice is, its firm. Rin is abruptly reminded that Kakashi's father committed ritual suicide and she thinks that if Harri says he did it on purpose, Kakashi might crack and break. Her teammate has never understood suicide or why some people see the need to take their own life and she suspects that if Hiri tried to make himself bleed out, the teenaged ANBU will distance himself out of self emotional preservation in case Hiri tries again.

"Draco's father," Harri mutters, referencing a name that Rin's heard before. 'Draco' is one of Hiri's torturers; one that Hiri doesn't think is actually responsible for his actions. "He beat me with a cane."

Rin can sense the spider cracks all throughout Hiri's legs and she knows that having someone break your legs into tiny pieces is much more memorable than two cuts and a slowing heartbeat.

"Not the breaks," Rin murmurs, "The scars above your knees."

"Oh." Harri goes very silent and then he shakes his legs, "He wasn't allowed a sharp knife. That's why the scars are so big."

There is a moment where Rin and Kakashi look at each other in confusion and then they understand. It wasn't suicide, it was just more torture.

It breaks Rin's heart that Harri doesn't seem bothered by anything that's happened to him. He's like an old man in a child's body, who is resigned to his past life and doesn't want to remember it anymore.

Kakashi rolls Hiri onto his back gently when Rin is done doing what she can for the scars and she pets the papery gown down, not daring to look into Harri's eyes. His eyes scare her and she doesn't want him looking at her anymore.

Moving away, Rin grabs a bright green blanket from the cabinet and unfolds it, asking Harri if she can approach him and cover him with the fuzzy material. When she finally looks at him, Harri's eyes aren't as dead as they had been before, but they're filled with pain now and she thinks that is worse. He nods and Kakashi helps her by taking one side of the material. Together they tuck the child into the blanket and when they finally stop fussing over him, he's completely wrapped up as though the blanket was made of chakra resistant Kevlar and can protect him from all the evils in the world.

With a slow blink, Harri retreats and Hiri looks out from the gaunt face with confusion in his eyes.

"Wh-what happened?" He dares to ask and Rin is glad that the child has grown bold enough, strong enough, in their presence to speak his mind.

Kakashi pets his hair and Hiri nuzzles the teenager's palm almost unconsciously, "Harri didn't want you to hurt, so he took over," the genius tells Hiri and Hiri nods, yawning. He's extraordinarily calm about not being in control of his body and that realization wars with the fact that he's been traumatized. Most trauma victims want every ounce of control they can get after the incident and it confuses Rin as to why Hiri isn't like that.

Rin is reminded that she still doesn't know what's making the boy sleep so much, as his eyes close and he practically falls unconscious in Kakashi's arms. It worries her more than she'll admit even to herself.

Unfortunately there are other, more pressing concerns. Like the poison.

She doesn't know how long Hiri's body can hold up under the poison, and she needs to take a sample to examine so she might identify what kind of poison it is. Even though it looks like his body isn't bothered by it, that probably just means it's one that doesn't cause pain - and those are usually the more dangerous ones.

"Kakashi, I need a blood sample," she says quietly, and her teammate's eye sharpens. She shakes her head before he can question her on it, as she doesn't want to worry him needlessly. He doesn't know how to counter poison, especially not unknown such, and there is no point discussing what she can't explain anyway.

Minato and Fugaku approach from behind the curtain just as she places her hand over Hiri's wrist. Drawing small droplets of blood from the pores is a technique usually used for blood tests on newborns, as it doesn't hurt, but it's one that draws forth very little blood. It should be enough for now, though she'll most likely need to do a proper test sometime in the near future.

But it's enough for today. Hiri has been so brave and so strong and she doesn't want to put him through anything more right now.

She pulls back the curtain to allow the adults to see the bed and her sensei's eye light up when they see Hiri and Kakashi, cuddled up together on the bed. Minato steps up to the edge of the bed and with a slow and steady hand he reaches out and strokes Hiri's cheek. Hiri nuzzles him and sighs sleepily.

Playing with the blood sample in her hands, Rin watches Fugaku watch Hiri. His face is blank, like all good shinobi, but there is something in his eyes that seem warm. His gaze shifts from Hiri to her and lifts her chin defiantly. She isn't going to back down on _anything_ that has to do with the child.

"He has Jiyuuri-san's eyes," Fugaku tells her in a soft voice, "Jiyuuri-san has hazel eyes, unusual for an Uchiha. In fact, the only Uchiha without black eyes; until Hiri," he amends as he glances at Hiri then back to Rin again, "The mixing of Uchiha blood with a civilian's must have enhanced the green pigment Obito-kun inherited from her."

He probably isn't wrong, Rin thinks to herself. The Uchiha's have bred together for so long that new blood into their little community would probably bring quite a few changes to the child's physical features. Maybe that's why Hiri's skin is so very pale, or why his nose is thinner than usual for an Uchiha. Sure, the Uchiha have paler skin than most Konoha natives, but Hiri's skin looks like someone dabbed a touch of pink into a can of white paint. It's highly unusual for an Uchiha.

Rin is pretty sure that as Hiri grows, he's going to have a lot of problems with burning under the sun instead of tanning. His skin seems too delicate for a shinobi.

Even with all those differences between Hiri and a standard Uchiha though, he still looks like Obito and she's thankful for that, because it means that Hiri will feel like he belongs as he grows up.

Rin smiles at the sleeping boy, feeling like they've passed more than one obstacle today. Things aren't anywhere near resolved, and probably won't be for a long while yet, but they've overcome this. At least the physical aspect; Hiri and Harri still hasn't spoke much about what actually happened to them, and she supposes they'll need to talk things through soon, but for now, it's alright.

"...Who is Harri?" Fugaku speaks up suddenly and the whole team tenses. Even though Fugaku may be more of a human being than she would have suspected, he still isn't trustworthy.

She also doesn't feel good about sharing Hiri's secrets without his knowledge. She doesn't want to go behind the boy's back and abuse his trust, and even less so after this ordeal. But then, Fugaku is his guardian by proxy at the moment, which does give him certain rights that can't be denied without breaking the law.

She's very tempted to say, 'screw the law', and kind of hopes Minato will refuse to speak up about Harri as well because she doesn't want to tell Fugaku anything about the precious boy she loves. She doesn't want him to have ammunition to use against Hiri.

*****xxXXxx*****


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Nine: _Kakashi_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, Angst, language, PTSD, allusions to rape/abuse/child endangerment.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** Kakashi is being emotionally stunted and accidentally creating misunderstandings. We like misunderstandings. It builds angst.

**Summary:** Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose _him_ too. Time travel. De-aged Harry.

*****xxXXxx*****

Kakashi holds on to Harri's hand tightly, trying to keep the child's eyes on him instead of Fugaku. With a growl in his voice, Kakashi deigns to look at the aloof man; "Harri is none of your business."

Fugaku's lip twists in an approximation of a sneer, "Boy, y-"

Whatever it was that Fugaku was going to say is cut off by Harri, who has taken back over in seconds - and that _can't_ be good for Hiri -, sitting up suddenly, his green eyes bleeding to red - _why would _Harri_ be using the sharingan? Hadn't he said it hurt?_ - and letting go of Kakashi's fingers.

"Don't speak to Kaka-nii-sama like that." His voice, however dead it had once been, isn't emotionless now. Now Harri's voice speaks of anger and rage and hidden fear.

Kakashi can see Fugaku's face tighten in shock and isn't sure if Harri's defense of him will encourage the Uchiha head, or make him back off. He isn't betting on the latter, though; Kakashi has always had the impression that Fugaku would go to any lengths to achieve his goals.

He might be biased though, after the debacle with Obito's gifted eye.

"And why would it be any of your concern how I speak to him?" There is a calculating look in the man's eye that Kakashi doesn't like. A look that says _I'm puzzling this out_. Kakashi doesn't want Fugaku anywhere near Hiri's alter, or Hiri himself, but there is no action he can take without overtly pitting himself against the Uchiha head; Hiri's clan's head.

"Kaka-nii-sama is my _family_," Harri speaks clearly and suddenly there is a lump in Kakashi's throat.

Kakashi's heart constricts and he doesn't know what to do. He can't really believe what he's just heard Harri say.

_Harri said they were family._

Small fingers touch his wrist and Kakashi smiles brilliantly at the child in the bed. "Oh, Harri-"

"No," Harri shakes his head, "You're the closest to me," Harri whispers, "I didn't mean to sound demanding..." The last word he says trails off and his eyes go back to that startlingly emerald color that Kakashi has gotten used to seeing over the last few days.

He can't help but lean over Harri and hug him tight.

Harri hugs him back, tentatively, and a warmth blooms in Kakashi's chest. He hadn't even known how much he'd actually wanted to hear that declaration from the child.

He bends his head down, refusing to show Fugaku how his eye is tearing up. He doesn't know how the man would react, but he doubts it'd be with anything positive.

"Wouldn't you like to see your real family?" Fugaku breaks up the gentleness of the moment with those words and Kakashi feels his next breath lock in his throat. It's selfish, but he doesn't want Hiri or Harri to meet the Uchihas'.

Doesn't want him to choose his biological family over Kakashi and their team.

But he can't stop it because Fugaku is powerful and even though Kakashi knows that Minato wants to side with the team, blood comes first in Konoha.

"Kaka-nii-sama is my real family," Harri mutters into Kakashi's neck. The teenager pulls Harri closer to him and the boy curls up in his arms, sliding off the bed and into his arms, blanket still wrapped around him. Kakashi brushes his hair from his forehead and presses his lips to the lightening scar that is so old but barely faded at all.

"Harri-kun," Kakashi murmurs into his dark hair, "Fugaku-san means your- your blood family."

Harri makes a noise in the back of his throat that's almost a scoff, "Does everything always have to be about blood?" He asks tiredly. Kakashi thinks that Harri is too young to be so tired.

And he's not sure what Harri means, either. He doesn't know when blood could have mattered to Harri, because he doubts that the boy's abusers would have given two shits about who Harri was related to. Unless they'd also had something to do with a possible blackmailing of the Uchiha clan, and had planned something...

Kakashi mentally shakes his head. This isn't the time to dwell on conspiracy theories.

"No, Harri, it doesn't. I'm-" his voice almost breaks, but he catches himself just in time to stabilize it, "-very happy that you consider me family." Harri nuzzles his neck a little and tightens his grip. Fugaku watches the movement with shuttered eyes that makes Kakashi want to take the boy away from the clan head's line of sight. He shouldn't be looking at Harri with plotting eyes like that.

"You don't wish to see them?" The man finally asks and Kakashi feels manipulation dripping from the words. He's trying to guilt Harri into this, maybe, or he has some other way to try and snatch the boy to his side.

Harri relaxes in Kakashi's arms and looks over his shoulder at the only other person in the room with black hair, "I- who are they?" He asks hesitantly. Kakashi bites his lip, hoping that whatever Harri thinks of his blood family, the child won't forget about him and the team.

"Your grandfather, Seijun-san and your grandmother, Jiyuuri-san," Fugaku tells Harri in a calm voice, one with chakra laced in it. "They are your father's parents."

Harri's eyes widen and for a moment Kakashi thinks that the boy is going to say something, but then his head bows and when he looks back up, _Hiri_ is staring at Fugaku with something akin to awe in his eyes. "My- My grandparents? Otou-sama's parents?" His voice is breathless and Kakashi curses in his head.

Hiri would do anything for someone to love him, it's been proven already that he'd be willing to be a slave - or even some kind of child _concubine_! - if he could find someone to love him, and here Fugaku is, telling him that he has grandparents, two people that will love him regardless of anything else.

In Kakashi's eyes this spells disaster.

He can't bear to part with Hiri. He won't be able to handle Hiri leaving him without a backwards glance for someone else.

"Hiri," Minato lays a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "How do you feel?"

Kakashi shakes his head a little, forcing himself to think of Hiri instead of himself. The boy has just gone through a full physical exam and now he's been told something out of his deepest dreams - there isn't a chance in hell that Hiri is okay right now, no matter what he says.

Hiri isn't the most truthful child about his own health after all.

"Hiri-kun? Are you alright?" Kakashi asks carefully, because Hiri's breathing has suddenly picked up drastically and Kakashi wonders if this has become too much for the boy. Hiri turns his head to look at him from where he'd been staring with fixation at Fugaku, and Kakashi sees with mounting alarm that the boy's pupils are blown wide open, almost as if he was drugged.

"_Hiri_?" he barks a little when Hiri just stares at him with too-wide eyes. Minato steps around Kakashi to look at Hiri and snaps something to Rin, who jumps into action.

Her hands push aside the blanket and rest on his pale, thin chest and her fingers pulse frenetically with chakra. It's only a moment later when she backs away, sighing a little.

"He's in shock," Kakashi can tell that she's trying to be quiet so she doesn't pull Hiri out of whatever state he's in because he knows that that could be dangerous. "Too much has happened today, he can't take anything more. His mind probably just shut down so he won't be overwhelmed any further." She closes the blanket around him again and Kakashi pulls him tight into his body.

"I'll take him home then," Fugaku steps forward, his hands rising and Kakashi doesn't know why - even if he can guess - , but he freaks out.

"No! No, Hiri's going home with me!" He holds Hiri tight and backs away from the Uchiha, stumbling only for a moment over his chair.

"Kakashi!" Minato snaps at him; "Stop it."

"Mina-sensei," Kakashi rocks Hiri in his arms, "I won't- I _can't_ let him go! Hiri needs to come home with me- us. I need to- I need to be there to make sure that he's okay."

"Kakashi," Minato's eyes soften and he repeats himself, "Kakashi, you know that Fugaku has legal rights to Hiri."

Kakashi bows his head, looking into Hiri's face. The child's eyes have drifted closed and he's deep in unconsciousness. Kakashi can feel it in his heart that if he isn't there when Hiri wakes up, something will go wrong. He _knows_ it. "Mina-sensei, I can't let him go." Kakashi looks to the Uchiha with determination in his grey eye then, "Hiri is going home with me, Uchiha-san," he says. It's not a warning, or a command or even a demand, it's just Kakashi, telling Fugaku a fact, the same tone in his voice he'd have used to tell the Uchiha that kunai are sharp.

Fugaku's eyebrows hitch up to his hairline and a sarcastic expression twists his lips. It's an expression the man has directed in his way many times and Kakashi tightens his hold on Hiri further.

"And what makes you think you have more of a claim to the boy than his own clan does?"

Kakashi scrambles to find an answer that might satisfy Fugaku and delay Hiri's separation from the team. He's not sure what finally possesses him to say what he does next, though. Probably the desperate panic encroaching his thought processes.

"Because I loved Obito!"

His heavy breathing is the loudest sound in the room and Fugaku is shocked enough at his words that he actually takes a step back and has to contain an exclamation. His face twists in something close to concern and then clears. "You -" Fugaku blinks in false nonchalance, "- loved Obito."

Kakashi nods shakily. He can't believe that he'd just said that he loved Obito. True, whilst Obito had been alive, Kakashi had wanted nothing to do with him. After his death though, Kakashi couldn't find it in himself to hate the older boy any more. He misses Obito and he thanks Obito every day for changing him into a better person. He is- _fond_ of the Uchiha. He knows that without Obito's sacrifice, he never would have become a better person and he _has_ to love Obito for that, for making him human.

"Kakashi," Minato steps towards him and Kakashi knows that he has to make this new revelation real to everyone because he doesn't want any of them to doubt his sincerity.

"Mina-sensei, I love Obito," his voice quivers as he speaks softly and intensely, "I love him and I love Hiri and I can't let go of the only other piece of Obito left." There is a gasp from Rin and when Kakashi turns to look at her he can see that her eyes are tearing up and she's crying. "Rin?" He questions, abruptly afraid for her.

"Oh. Oh, Kakashi," she wipes her eyes, "Oh, Kakashi, I never knew. I'm so sorry."

He doesn't know why she's crying or why she's saying she's sorry, but he's going to remember to ask her later, once Hiri is safely back to Minato's house with him. He doesn't want to make Rin cry, he loves her like he loves Obito, because she makes him a better person. He would miss her if she died; he would miss her just as much as he misses Obito.

"It's okay," He tries to console her, "I never told anyone except Obito and the four of you here," He says. He's not really lying, he has told Obito that he loved him; at least, he's told what's left of Obito the truth. After all, the only two pieces of Obito left are Hiri and the sharingan eye that rests under Kakashi's hitai-ite and they're both in the room right now, listening to him reveal his feelings.

It's too late, he knows, but he hopes Obito appreciates it nevertheless. He can feel his gifted eye twinging, and despite the fact that he stopped believing in miracles and shed superstition a long time ago, he can't help but wonder if it's a sign. He can't help but hope that somewhere, Obito has heard him.

Even if he hasn't though, Hiri is here and aware again and looking at him with gigantic eyes. He's a piece of Obito, the piece Kakashi is going to treasure and protect in all the ways he didn't do for Obito.

"You loved... Otou-sama?"

Hiri looks confused and quizzical for all that he's mostly out of it, and he's squirming in Kakashi's arms to look up at his face. Kakashi automatically arranges his arms for Hiri's comfort and nods seriously. Hiri probably doesn't understand, but Kakashi wants the boy to know this anyway.

"I loved him very much."

His throat closes up uncomfortably when Hiri pats his cheek, but Kakashi refuses to acknowledge it, just focusing on the fact that Hiri is touching him so freely.

Fugaku clears his throat, drawing Kakashi's attention from Hiri - whose hand is still on his face - and Kakashi is surprised to see something that might be compassion in the Uchiha's eyes. "Kakashi-san," he starts, "I understand that you love Hiri-kun greatly, however-"

"There is no 'however'," Kakashi interrupts the man, "I am taking Hiri home with me. I'm not going to let him go. Not now, not ever."

There is a finality in Kakashi's statement that everyone can hear. Kakashi looks back down to Hiri and nuzzles the pitch black hair. Normally he would have shocked himself with such a statement; his explicit intention to adopt Hiri, to be his father. Now? Now he's completely calm. He knows what he has to do: raise Hiri as a good person, like Obito would have wanted.

Minato rubs the back of his head, ruffling his blond hair, and sighs, "Kakashi, Fugaku-san has the right to take Hiri now as he is Hiri's legal guardian. We can't fight that."

Fugaku lifts a hand and Kakashi looks at the Uchiha out of the corner of his eye. Fugaku looks resigned. Or maybe tolerant. Whatever the thoughtful look on his face is, it's an expression that Kakashi has never seen on any Uchiha's face before.

"Hokage-sama," Fugaku's dark eyes have a glimmer in them that is completely unexpected, "I believe that Hiri-kun will be safe in Kakashi-san's care for another day. Perhaps tomorrow we can look over the arrangements of Hiri's placement, but for tonight we all know Hiri will be more comfortable with Kakashi and you."

Kakashi stares at the clan head. He had not been expecting Fugaku to bend to his demands; rather he was sure he would be drawn into a verbal spar that would have lasted until Minato stopped them both. Not that he's planning to complain; he won't go looking a gift horse in the mouth, especially since this gives him a valid reason to bring Hiri home.

He'll need to discuss the possible adoption with Minato, the clan, and Hiri's grandparents, but for the moment he'll be content to know that Hiri is his, at least for now.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san," he bows a little, and the gesture isn't as hard to swallow as it could have been.

Fugaku gives him an unexpected smile and nods in difference to Minato before leaving the room. Kakashi isn't sure what game the Uchiha is playing with him and Hiri, but he'll be ready for it when it comes to a head.

"Kakashi," Rin rests a hand on his shoulder, "I really didn't know. If I had known, I wouldn't have..." She trails off and her gaze drifts to Hiri. Kakashi cuddles the boy closer to him.

"It's alright, Rin," he tells her, knowing that she couldn't have known because he himself only just realized it.

"Sensei, may I take Hiri home now? It's- It's been a long day." It has been a long day for Kakashi and he wasn't even the one that was examined or presented to the council or introduced to a member of a family only thought fantasy.

Hiri needs to rest, needs to feel safe again and Kakashi is going to provide that for him.

Minato nods and Kakashi breathes a mental sigh of relief.

Kakashi stands carefully so as not to disturb Hiri and after fussing with the blanket for a moment to make sure that it covers Hiri entirely he leaves the room without a backwards glance. He makes sure to keep every movement he makes as smooth as possible and manages to get to Minato's house without waking Hiri up from his light doze.

Upstairs he stripes the boy of his hospital gown and replaces it with one of his own lightweight tee-shirts because it's big enough on Hiri to double as nightwear. Hiri murmurs sleepily as he does this, but doesn't really wake up. Kakashi figures that he is getting better at this parenting thing if he can manage to change Hiri and not disturb him.

He tucks the little boy in tight and hesitates only for a moment before drawing down his mask and kissing Hiri's forehead softly.

"Sleep well, Hiri," He murmurs.

"'ka-sama," Hiri mumbles and rolls towards him, curling up into the fetal position. Kakashi pets his hair gently. He isn't sure how to take it that when Hiri mumbles his name, it comes out as though Hiri is calling him his mother.

He supposes that it isn't horrible for Hiri to consider him his parent, even if it was 'mother' instead of 'father'. He doesn't really want to take Obito's spot in Hiri's life anyway.

He does wonder what other people will think of it though, and whether he should correct Hiri or leave things as they are. He isn't sure he wants Hiri to call him something else though, not when it was Hiri who'd decided _on his own _to give Kakashi a _personal _nickname.

As Hiri sleeps, curled into himself, Kakashi wonders what the future will hold for them. He isn't sure Fugaku will allow him to adopt Hiri, no matter how lenient he acted today. Then there are the grandparents to consider. He doesn't want to deny Hiri his blood heritage, but just the thought of the boy choosing them over him sends chills down Kakashi's spine.

But he highly doubts Seijun and Jiyuuri will be prepared to just hand Hiri over for him to adopt. Perhaps he can try to offer a compromise, something persuasive enough for them to agree? From how Obito used to speak about his parents, Kakashi knows they were compassionate and loving, so maybe Hiri's trust in Kakashi will help them see how important this relationship already is, for both of them.

He will tell them how much he loved Obito; tell them how much Hiri means to him, and his intentions to be the best father he could possibly be - both for Hiri and in honor of Obito's memory.

That will have to be enough, because Kakashi refuses to contemplate the alternatives.

A vague sense that he's being watched makes Kakashi look towards the door and he can see Minato look in on him and Hiri. Kakashi strokes Hiri's hair once more before standing and leaving the room. He closes the door softly behind himself and turns to look Minato full in the face. Minato's gaze on his lower face makes him frown for a moment before remembering to reach up and put his mask back in place.

He suspects that Minato has some very important things to say to him about Hiri; his insistence on keeping the child and about how disrespectful he was of Fugaku but he can't bring himself to care about any of that.

He's just realized that he loves Obito as the brother he never had - more than he thinks he's ever loved the father who had left him - and he's too wreaked to think about anything else.

"Kakashi-kun," Minato draws him into a hug and he's so shocked that he doesn't even lift his hands to hug Minato back, he just stands there, eye wide as his sensei holds him.

"M-Minato-sensei?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me that you loved Obito?"

"I-" Kakashi shakes his head against Minato's shoulder, confused. He doesn't know why Minato would really care; there isn't anything the older man can do about it. "Hiri needs me," he whispers, "I couldn't keep it silent when Hiri needs me."

Minato nods slowly, looking like he's trying to puzzle something out. Kakashi doesn't understand why Minato is so surprised though, because his teacher knows he's spent almost every free moment at the memorial stone, speaking to Obito.

He had thought his teacher had understood that Kakashi's feelings had changed after Obito's sacrifice, even if he hadn't been able to vocalize it before now. It's a little painful to think that Minato was still in doubt about how much he appreciated the change Obito caused in him, and how ashamed he is of the way he'd treated his teammate when Obito was still alive.

"I thought you knew," without meaning to, the words come out sounding a bit accusing, and Kakashi steps back from Minato. "And I wasn't be able to say it," he swallows the lump in his throat.

Gods, he'd been such a bastard. He'd never told any of them how much he - _cared_, even now that he knew what it meant to have meaningful relationships.

He can practically feel the questions in the air and wonders why this matters so much to his teacher now. Is Minato angry with him for not saying anything sooner? His teacher had always wanted Kakashi to open up more to his team, but Kakashi won't be surprised if Minato thinks his timing is rather horrible. Either way, he'll answer whatever questions Minato has, because he's sure that these things will be important if he wants to have Minato's backing when he officially declares his intentions to adopt Hiri.

"Oh, Kakashi," Minato pulls him into his arms again, "I'm sure that Obito knew, even if you couldn't say it out loud."

Kakashi has to think about that for a moment before he can see what Minato means about Obito knowing when he was still alive.

His eye. It's Obito's sharingan that Minato is talking about.

He wonders if Minato isn't right. Obito certainly wouldn't give something as precious as his sharingan away without knowing that the person who was receiving the gift would cherish it. Maybe Obito had known how his death would affect Kakashi. Maybe Obito had known, in his last moments, that Kakashi was truly sorry for everything undeserved he'd done or said to the older boy.

"Really?" His voice breaks as he asks. "You really think so?" He needs confirmation because though he might be jounin, he is still only fourteen - still a child, though he usually doesn't like to admit it.

"I'm sure, Kakashi."

"But I was so horrible to him, before -" Kakashi's breath hitches, and he almost wants Minato to agree with him, because this guilt never seems to go away - and Kakashi isn't sure it should. His sensei just tightens his grip on him, making soothing circular motions on his back with his palms.

"He knew, Kakashi. Obito was more perceptive than he was ever given credit for," Minato's voice is pained and it is with no small amount of shock that Kakashi realizes he's not the only one who feels guilty, who blames himself for Obito's death.

It takes a long moment for Kakashi to get himself back under control, but he finally does. He leans away from his sensei and Minato lets him go with gentle hands. Kakashi wants to tell Minato that he isn't as fragile as Minato thinks, but he doesn't want to lose that feeling that he gets when Minato shows how much he cares.

"So," Kakashi clears his throat and looks away, a bit embarrassed even if he had liked being hugged, "Uhm, I apologize for forcing Uchiha-san to give up Hiri for the night, but I don't regret it."

"It's alright, Kakashi," Minato tells him gently, "Fugaku-san was willing to cede to your claim and tomorrow we'll meet with him and Hiri's grandparents." His tone sharpens, "Just remember to have your arguments ready for tomorrow. I have high doubts that Seijun-san and Jiyuuri-san will be willing to give Hiri up without a fight."

"I understand, Sensei," Kakashi murmurs. He does understand because he will be fighting just as hard as the Uchiha's to keep Hiri. He still has less of a claim for all that he's revealed he loves Obito.

A small part of him insists that he doesn't love Obito; rather that he is obsessed with the older Uchiha. He shoves that part deep inside because he doesn't want to acknowledge that his obsession with rules and regulations has been transferred to Obito, and that that might be why he's a better person, instead of Obito having actually changed him.

He doesn't want to admit that, because that would mean he's letting Obito down. And the only reason he managed to pull himself together after his teammate's death was because he had to honor Obito, and staying inside with the blinds drawn wasn't an appropriate way to do so.

He's been trying hard to be as good a person he can be, but it has been a lot harder than he'd thought it would be during those first few months. He'd always been a good shinobi; the ninja arts coming naturally to him being a genius, but being a better person is so much harder than completing missions properly.

Since he hadn't been sure how to begin changing himself, he'd looked to Obito's memory to try and absorb some of the characteristics that had made him such an easy person for most people to get along with.

He knew he'd never be as good as Obito had been, but he'd done his very best anyway. It was one of the few times he'd been truly thankful for his photographic memory. And somehow the memories of Obito came easy to him, easier than they had during his teammate's life, and they looked different to him now, as well.

It adds a new dimension to his shame, because Obito had been genuinely friendly before Kakashi had managed to drive the wedge between them with his attitude. When Kakashi thinks back on it, the way he'd acted, he still wants to cringe. Or hide, sometimes, when a particularly bad memory floats up to the surface.

He'd been awful. And it hadn't just been the way he'd thrown the ninja code in Obito's face every time the boy did something he'd disagreed with; he'd been a genuinely bad person. The realization hurt a lot more now than it would have had if he'd discovered it before Obito's death.

He's not sure how much Obito's parents know about his behavior, about all the hurtful things he'd said to Obito... he won't be surprised if they refused him entry to their house, with or without Hiri. He wouldn't want a person like him in his house; hell, he didn't want himself in his own skin.

But he'll have to convince them that he's changed and that he is the best person for Hiri to grow up with. He'll have to tell them how much he loved Obito, what he'd realized after Obito's death, and how much Hiri means to him. Hiri is his life now. He will be everything he hadn't been to Obito and more; that was all he could do at this point.

"Sensei," Rin's voice breaks the silent air and both men turn to look at her. She's standing at the top of the steps hugging the wall, "What are we going to tell Uchiha-san about Harri?" Her question is asked in a tiny voice and she sounds completely dispirited. Kakashi doesn't like that in her. She's been so strong for so long that to see her looking weak confuses him.

"I don't know yet; it's a delicate subject and I don't particularly want to divulge sensitive information without a reason. I can tell you this though," Minato looks down at Kakashi with a grim glint in his eyes, "I am not about to let Hiri get caught up in a long custody battle."

Kakashi frowns and bites his lip as he questions tentatively, "Sensei?"

"Get your arguments ready, Kakashi; and be prepared for a quick decision that could go either way. Fugaku and I will listen to both arguments and we will decide together where best to place Hiri." Minato shakes his head wearily, "I won't grant both you and the Uchiha's guardian rights over Hiri, only one of you will be given that. The other applicant for guardianship will have to appeal to the one who gets custody for visiting rights."

"Why won't you let us have joint custody?" Kakashi asks, not condemning his sensei, but honestly confused about his firm stance on the matter. He's also surprised at how fast this is moving. He had expected to have to formally declare his intent but it seems that since there is only two 'families' with any real right to Hiri, Minato is going to push this through so it's finished quickly and not weighing down on anyone, especially Hiri.

Minato sighs, "I know how it is to be shuffled around because of a joint custody agreement and I won't do that to Hiri. It's best to give Hiri somewhere permanent to call home and let him visit elsewhere."

Kakashi can't argue with that. He doesn't want Hiri to be shuffled like that; he doesn't want Hiri thinking that he has no permanent home.

He isn't willing to give Hiri up, but he hates the thought of Hiri without a permanent home even more.

"So," Rin steps into their conversation, "Kakashi, why don't you go to bed, get some rest and think through your arguments. I'll check up on Kushina-chan's apartment and then I have to get home; Genma has to get packed for a week-long trip out with his class."

Minato smiles at her and pushes Kakashi towards his room, across the hall from Hiri's room, "She's right, Kakashi. Go to bed."

Kakashi shakes his head and turns back to Hiri's door, "I'll sleep with Hiri again. He's comfortable with me around."

It's good that Hiri is comfortable with someone older. After all that he's been through, it wouldn't have been a surprise if Hiri had rejected everyone who wanted to come near.

When he and his prospective son are burrowed down under the covers, Hiri's head on his shoulder, Kakashi allows himself to relax a little. He hadn't even realized how tense he's been since the exam until his back muscles started hurting.

Tomorrow will be another day of tenseness, he knows, so this'll be the only pause he'll get for a long time. He's not entirely sure what exactly to tell Hiri's grandparents, because he's never been good at emotional exclamations - at least, not until Hiri showed up and ripped open old and aching wounds with his too-old eyes - but he thinks that if he could tell Minato and Rin how he felt about Obito, he'll just have to force himself to explain it further tomorrow.

He's faced missions under much harsher conditions than this, hasn't he? And yet, there is a low bubbling feeling of dread in his stomach, the one he gets when the mission projections seem particularly bad, and it's not at all reassuring.

Almost absently, Kakashi pulls Hiri closer to himself, feeling the tiny body next to his relax in sleep. It's going to be a very long night.

****xXx****

Kakashi smiles at the boy and Hiri smiles back shyly, playing idly with Kakashi's vest collar. "Hey Hiri-kun, are you excited?" He asks softly, bouncing the child a little in his arms. It didn't take long for Hiri to feel comfortable in his arms even if it's still a little awkward.

Hiri flushes and his eyes light up, his tiny fingers gentle against Kakashi's neck, "Yes, very much so," he whispers back. They don't really have to be quiet, but it just seems appropriate, as they are sitting in Minato's office and he's bent over some papers, writing diligently.

"Have you heard anything about your grandparents?" Kakashi asks, "While I was out this morning?" Kakashi had gone to the Tower early in the morning to acquire the proper paperwork to fill out so that he could be ready to present his case to Minato. He thinks that he's gotten everything that he needs, but he's still worried.

It's better to focus on Hiri instead of the mounting fear he feels creeping up his spine.

"Rin-sama told me that Jiyuuri-sama is a chuunin teacher at the shinobi academy and that she has dark hazel eyes. Seijun-sama is a tokubetsu jounin that mediates between the military police and the 'T' and 'I' department." Hiri frowns then, "Rin-sama wouldn't tell me what the 'T' and 'I' stand for."

Thank the gods. "It's alright, Hiri-kun. You'll find out when you get older." Kakashi doesn't want Hiri to know about the Torture and Interrogation department. He wants to keep Hiri as innocent as possible, for as long as possible. He's already seen horrible things; he doesn't have to know that his grandfather is affiliated with similar affairs.

Hiri huffs a little, but nods placidly nevertheless. It's rather obvious that he really wants to know what the initials stand for, but that he's not quite comfortable enough to protest a direct denial. Still, they've come a long way in a very short time; the fact that Hiri isn't nearly as afraid of expressing his displeasure isn't lost on any of Team Minato.

"How much older?" He wonders out loud, and Kakashi smiles into the tousled mop of black hair that is so like his father's. There is a hint of petulance in the boy's tone - just a hint - but it's the most normal childlike response of Hiri's reactions thus far.

"Years older." It depends on if Hiri wants to become a ninja, Kakashi thinks. If he wants to be a part of the shinobi forces, he'll find out when he enters the Academy. If he doesn't... well, Kakashi is sure he'll find an appropriate time to sit down and have a talk with the boy.

"Your age?" Hiri mumbles and looks up at him, frowning a little. Kakashi isn't sure why it's so important for Hiri to have an exact date when he'll receive the knowledge, but he's not about to deny the boy anything.

"That depends, Hiri-kun. If you decide to become a shinobi, you will be informed before that,-" Kakashi realizes the folly of his words when Hiri's bright green eyes light up. He does not want the boy to enter the bloody business just because he wants to find out what the T and I in Torture and Interrogation stand for would be more than a little hasty, and quite a bit ridiculous. He finishes his statement anyway; "-and should you decide to stay a civilian, you'll be informed at an appropriate time."

"I want to be a shinobi," Hiri says promptly and Kakashi resists groaning. He really should have known better, so he informs Hiri that this is not a proper reason to enter their occupation.

Hiri stares at him through eyes that age the longer Kakashi looks into them, and it doesn't take him long to realize that Harri is now in control. He'd recognize the alter's battle-weary look anywhere, he thinks, and even more so because that look in a toddlers eyes is frightening.

"We will fight. We will not be weak."

The words thud into place with the force of a tsunami and Kakashi finds himself nodding before he consciously registers the movement. Harri is rarely that forceful if it doesn't pertain to Hiri's security. Though perhaps, for the alter, it does. Harri was born to fight, and Hiri needs to learn; it shouldn't have surprised Kakashi.

The look fades out of those green eyes, and Hiri immediately snuggles into his vest again, putting a small hand on his neck, over his pulse. Kakashi isn't sure if he even noticed the alter surfacing, but doesn't call attention to it.

"Otou-sama was shinobi, wasn't he?" Hiri asks softly and Kakashi realizes that the battle he'd almost been prepared to wage - to keep Hiri out of their bloody, lethal occupation - is lost before he's even started it. Both sides of his prospective son wants to be shinobi, if admittedly for different reasons, and Kakashi doubts he'd be able to talk them out of it. At least not without causing trust issues; Hiri would bend to his will whether Kakashi meant for him to or not, and Harri would no doubt see that as a betrayal and grow even more wary than he already is.

He nods briefly, sure that that will settle it, but Hiri just snuggles closer to him. Not sure if the boy is looking for reassurance, Kakashi pats his back carefully, holding him tighter.

"And you're shinobi too, Nii-sama," he murmurs against Kakashi's covered collar bone. He wants to belong; Kakashi should have known that, realized that. He needs to make sure that Hiri doesn't feel pressured to walk in footsteps several sizes too large for him just to be a part of the family, but he isn't entirely sure that he should worry overly much about it. All children want to emulate their parents, don't they? Kakashi will just have to make Hiri aware that it is in no way a requirement for him to enter their profession to fit into their cobbled-together family; they'll love him just the same, no matter what.

"Are you ready to go?" Minato steps closer with Rin in tow, grinning.

Hiri nods against the vest, smiling shyly, and all Kakashi can think is that having a child like the boy in his arms will no doubt be a non-stop adventure. He doesn't think he'll mind much, though.

"Yes, Sir," Hiri clambers off of Kakashi's lap and stands almost at attention in front of Minato, as though he were presenting himself to be inspected. Kakashi would have found that adorable if he didn't know Hiri's past.

"Alright," Minato puffs his chest out a little and blinks slowly, "I have two questions before we go to the meeting room Hiri," he says gently. Kakashi is startled to realize that they aren't going to the Uchiha's house, but he's glad for it because he doesn't want to argue over Obito's son with Obito's parents on their home ground. "First;" Minato continued, "Are you feeling comfortable?" Hiri just looks up at Minato and his tiny mouth turns downwards just a tad. "Well," Kakashi's teacher crouches down in front of Hiri, "We aren't going anywhere until you feel ready."

Hiri looks indecisive for a moment and then leans back into Kakashi's legs and the teenager feels the child's fingers wrap around his. Kakashi folds his hand around Hiri's with a hidden smile and Hiri finally smiles, "I feel safe now, Minato-sama."

Minato's smile lights up the room. Kakashi always thought of Minato as the brightest person he'd ever met and whenever his teacher smiles a real smile, the blond only becomes more radiant.

"Excellent. Question two: Are you ready to meet your grandparents?"

Hiri's eyes are wide and his mouth drops open, as though he can't believe that he's actually being allowed something so personal and finally he nods, "Yes, Sir." He whispers, fingers clenching tight to Kakashi's hand.

He's nervous, Kakashi can tell, but not frightened. Kakashi tries to see this from Hiri's point of view and realizes that if he was told that he could meet his father's parents three years after his death he would have been both anxious and scared. He probably would have wanted Minato with him as well, even if he never would have asked out loud for the support.

So he'll keep close to Hiri and support the child in every manner he can.

"Then," Minato stands and starts towards the door, "Fugaku, Seijun, and Jiyuuri are downstairs in one of the meeting rooms, waiting for us."

Kakashi unconsciously reaches out with his chakra to find Fugaku and feels the tingling sensation of familiar chakra next to where Fugaku's chakra is holding steady. He shouldn't have been surprised, since those two are Obito's direct relations like Hiri is, but it's still a bit of a shock to feel so much of Obito when Kakashi knows that the best friend he'll ever have is dead.

They walk slowly, letting Hiri set the pace. It's important to have Hiri be completely sure that he's ready to see them, but from the looks of it, as long as he holds onto Kakashi's hand, he feels safe.

It's a very warm realization, to be someone else's safe harbor. And quite a responsibility as well.

"Fugaku-san," Minato greets immediately once they enter the room. The three adults are standing along one wall, and the room is very spacey. A very good choice for a meeting room for someone like Hiri, Kakashi thinks, approving.

"Hokage-sama," Fugaku makes a bow, eyes darting discreetly between Minato and the small boy clinging to Kakashi's hand. Hiri does seem a bit more nervous now, and Kakashi releases his hand to wrap his arms around the boy and lift him into his arms again.

He walks forward at a leisurely pace, a hand on Hiri's back to check for tensing muscles and other signs of nervousness. Hiri grips his shirt tightly, but other than that he's calmer than Kakashi would have expected. On the other hand, Seijun and Jiyuuri are still standing almost against the wall and haven't made a move towards the child.

Kakashi is glad for their discretion when instead of outright staring at the boy - which he's absolutely sure is what they want to do - they sweep their eyes over Hiri and him and then turn towards Minato. He's not sure he'd have been able to keep his cool like that, and wonders if the difference is in their years of experience as shinobi; no matter his genius, experience is something most of his ANBU and jounin peers have him beat in.

The grandparents greet Minato cheerfully, walking a few steps forward. Hiri burrows into his shoulder a bit, but otherwise remains calm, and Kakashi wants to crow in gratefulness. He won't be so arrogant as to assume Hiri's calm is solely because of him, but he's sure that a rather large part of it is due to his presence.

"Hiri-kun?"

Minato turns towards Hiri, smiling softly.

"This is Seijun-san and Jiyuuri-san. Your grandparents."

Hiri stares at the two newest people he's been introduced to and though his hands don't leave Kakashi's vest, he leans forward, staring, wide eyed. Kakashi watches as Hiri looks the pair up and down, seeing the aristocratic features and dark hair and eyes, though Jiyuuri's eyes are more hazel than black like her husband's. Seijun is taller than Jiyuuri by about two inches, standing at five foot eleven. Both of them are wearing Uchiha blue shirts and tan bottoms; Seijun, wearing pants as opposed to Jiyuuri's ankle-length skirt and both are wearing their green vests. Seijun's vest is done all the way up to his neck whilst Jiyuuri's vest is left open, showcasing the large, red and white embroidered uchiwa on her shirt.

"Ojii-sama? Obaa-sama?" His voice is so low that Kakashi can barely hear him speak but the Uchiha's nod slowly, calmly.

"Hai," Seijun steps closer and gives Hiri a little bow, "I am Seijun," he gestures to his wife, "-and this is Jiyuuri-chan. We're your father's parents. We never knew that he had a child until last night."

Kakashi can feel Hiri's imperceptible shiver under his hand and he rubs his hand up and down the child's back. Hiri leans back into his arms.

"My name is Uchiha Hiri," Hiri murmurs, "And Harri likes you."

Shock reverberates through Kakashi and he grips Hiri tight to his chest. "Hiri-kun? What do you mean?"

Hiri looks up at Kakashi with innocent eyes and Kakashi is just glad that Harri didn't decide to say it himself. "Harri. He likes them."

It had taken days for Hiri to come out of his shell with Kakashi and here he is; speaking out loud and approving of the Uchiha's within moments. While it's nice to know that the over protective persona likes his grandparents, it rips a hole in Kakashi's heart to know that with just one single meeting he's lost Hiri to the Uchiha's. He doesn't want to let go of Hiri, but he wants the best for the child, so he can't even fight for him if this is what Hiri wants. He had expected Hiri to not like these people and he had expected to have to fight for Hiri to be able to keep him safe and happy.

Seijun takes another step towards them and Hiri flinches back, pressing his face into Kakashi's neck.

Kakashi doesn't know how to feel; he's furious that Hiri's trust makes him so happy when it's obvious the boy is frightened but he's also sad that Hiri is scared of Seijun. A traitorous thought in the back of his head points out that this might even the odds a little, and Kakashi nearly flinches at his own selfishness.

Jiyuuri reaches out and pulls Seijun back to her side, "Sei," She murmurs too low for Hiri to hear her, "You heard what Fugaku-sama said last night."

Kakashi watches the Uchiha pair fold their fingers together and wonders at how _loving_ they seem to be. Here are two born Uchiha who's been married for almost twenty years and they're still so deeply in love that they're holding hands in public.

It scratches at his throat, the fact that they seem to be good people. He'd expected them to be more... Uchiha-like. More like Fugaku; cold and a little distant - not cruel, but inappropriately cool. That's what he'd hoped for, he admits to himself. He wanted to meet a couple he wouldn't be ashamed of arguing with, a couple he could justify taking Hiri from without guilt.

"It's nice to meet you," Hiri says tentatively, and the timid cheerfulness breaks Kakashi's heart. It's cruel and selfish beyond belief, but he wanted Hiri to react to them the way he'd first reacted to Kakashi and his team.

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Hiri-kun," Jiyuuri says, voice thick with emotions, and Kakashi sees her squeeze her husband's hand.

"Do you really want to be my guardians?" Hiri asks quietly. He'd been told about why he was meeting his grandparents this morning because neither Rin nor Kakashi wanted Hiri unprepared for what was coming.

A small smile comes over Jiyuuri's lips and her eyes soften, "Yes, Hiri-kun, we do."

Hiri leans further into Kakashi and shakes his head, "I don't know why you want that. Are you going to hurt me too?"

The looks on all three of the Uchiha's faces are startling and Kakashi suddenly finds himself unable to hate them for wanting Hiri. He understands that they want what was left behind by Obito too, he understands that now. He doesn't like it, but he understands.

Seijun let's go of his wife's hand and shakes his head, "No," he whispers, "We aren't going to hurt you. We don't want you hurt at all, Hiri-kun."

Hiri stares at him and then nods, like he isn't sure that he believes the older Uchiha but wants to.

Kakashi doesn't know what he wants now, because he what he wishes is for Hiri to be safe and happy and if Hiri _is_ safe and happy with Seijun and Jiyuuri, what is he supposed to do? Fight that? No; no, he wouldn't do that. He'll let the Uchiha's keep Hiri.

They did a pretty good job with Obito, after all.

It'll hurt like a son of a bitch, but he'll let Hiri chose. He won't interfere.

Kakashi leans down and sets Hiri on the ground. Hiri keeps a hold around his neck and Kakashi has to crouch down so he doesn't get strangled. "Hiri," he asks gently, stroking Hiri's sides, softly, "What's wrong?"

"Do you wanna- want to get rid of me, Kakashi-sama?" He sounds resigned and Kakashi drops fully to his knees and pulls the child into a hug.

"No, I don't want to get rid of you, Hiri-kun. I love you. So much." Hiri nuzzles his neck and Kakashi rocks him back and forth a little, "The Uchiha's are your grandparents, your blood family. I'm not really old enough to take care of you."

"Percy took care of the twins, and the youngest and the girl," Hiri mutters into his skin, "-and Oliver watched over his team of six. They were only fourteen too."

More revelations, more people that Hiri is remembering. Kakashi is thankful that Hiri is remembering more of his life but can't seem to care too much because he's about to let Hiri go, is about to become peripheral in Hiri's life.

"Hiri-kun, I understand if you would prefer the Uchiha's to be your family," Kakashi murmurs into the boy's ear, feeling like every word is twisting itself out of his chest, hurting his heart.

"Prefer? You want _me_ to... choose, Kaka-nii?" Hiri questions back, sounding uncertain and worried. Kakashi wonders if it's because he's afraid he'll answer wrong and be hurt as a consequence, or if he doesn't understand the question.

"Yes. Your happiness is what matters the most to all of us, Hiri." He pauses for a moment and adds reassuringly, "There is no wrong choice, Hiri, you understand? Nobody will be angry with you, no matter what you decide." Kakashi won't be angry, no. Feel like his heart is being ripped out of his chest? Yes.

"..." Hiri frowns worriedly, leaning back to look up at Kakashi's face, meeting his one uncovered eye. He doesn't do that very often, and it's an action that borders on Harri, but Kakashi stays calm under the scrutiny. He mustn't influence Hiri in this.

"Hiri-kun?" Jiyuuri interrupts the silence and Kakashi doesn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. He wants Hiri to choose, doesn't want to be suspended in not-knowing. How he could possibly make Hiri choose now, not even giving him time to know his grandparents? It isn't a nice thing to do but he hopes that by making Hiri choose now, Hiri will choose him.

"Yes, Jiyuuri-sama?" Hiri asks politely and Jiyuuri smiles a little. Kakashi doesn't think Hiri sees the flash of sadness in her eye at the honorific.

"You called Kakashi-san, 'Kaka-nii', yes?" Hiri nods unsurely and Jiyuuri forges on. Kakashi isn't sure where she's going with this, and waits quietly. "Why did you do that?"

Hiri shifts a little, grabbing onto Kakashi hand again. "Because Kaka-nii-sama is my big brother."

He says it with a certainty that addles Kakashi mind for a minute. That tone is more Harri than anything he's ever heard Hiri say, and he briefly wonders if that should worry him. Harri shouldn't be influencing Hiri either, should he? Or is that an early sign of healing?

"I see," Jiyuuri trades a quick glance with Seijun and then continues; "And you believe he would be able to take care of you, despite his young age?"

Hiri looks up quizzically, repeating what he'd said before about someone named Oliver and someone named Percy. The names are very foreign to Kakashi, like all names from Hiri's past, and not even in his mind does he manage to pronounce them properly.

"Who are _O-li-u-ve-ru _and _Pe-ru-si_?" Seijun sounds the names out, rolling the syllables over his tongue with difficulty and mangling them in the process. Kakashi would laugh if he didn't have the same problems with most of the names that Hiri tells him.

"Oliver taught me to _fly_," Hiri whispers in rapture, his eyes closing and his body leaning against Kakashi. It's the most relaxed Hiri has ever been and Kakashi is pleased that there is something that Hiri finds freeing.

Even if it is something as impossible as flying.

He looks up at Jiyuuri and can see the same sort of confusion and disbelief in her eyes as in his.

"You like flying, Hiri-kun?" Jiyuuri kneels on the ground, sitting back on her heels. She brushes her long braid over her shoulder and with a deft hand smoothes the winkles from her blue shirt.

"Hmm," Hiri hums quietly. "Percy was Ron's older brother. Ron had lots of older brothers but Percy was different. He was scared his mom and dad would find out. It was really sad."

"What was Percy hiding?" Kakashi asks, getting Percy's name a lot better than Seijun got. He can't brag though because he has had several days of learning how different the names Hiri knows are.

Hiri snuggles down in his arms, crawling into his lap, "Percy and Oliver," Hiri murmurs, "They didn't want to hurt Percy's parents. But they were real good at raising kids."

A look of suppressed pain comes over Jiyuuri's face as she looks at Hiri, in Kakashi's arms instead of her own. Kakashi can understand how much she wants the child. She's already lost Obito. Nothing will ever replace Obito but she misses her son and Hiri is Obito's.

Seijun steps over to Fugaku and murmurs to the head of his clan for a moment and Kakashi tries hard not to listen in. The conversation is too interesting for him not to listen in though because Seijun isn't asking Fugaku to give him and his wife Hiri but to let whatever choice Hiri makes stand.

Seijun wants Hiri happy, just like Kakashi does.

The male Uchiha inches his way over Minato moments later and tells him basically the same thing. Kakashi looks back to Jiyuuri and can see tears in her eyes but acceptance as well.

"Hiri-kun, wherever you will be happy is where I want you to be," She tells both the child and Kakashi.

Hiri winds his arms around Kakashi's neck and presses their cheeks together. "I know Kaka-nii." His eyes open and he stares at his grandparents. "But... you're my family too." He looks torn and Kakashi isn't going to push even if he wants to.

It looks like Jiyuuri isn't going to push either and Kakashi has to wonder how many abused children she works with at the Academy. It's really only broken children or children raised by shinobi who want to be shinobi.

And damaged people really are the best shinobi material, since they already know how ugly the world can be; they know to be cautious and that an enemy can wear the mask of a friend. It's a rather horrible truth to accept, especially for the civilian parents, but that is reality.

Hiri scrunches up his nose, "I can't- it's not- I can't have both?" he finally whispers, pausing and then rushing to explain, "I know it's not- that it's greedy, but I don't want to _not_ see one of you ever again."

"Hiri-kun; first of all, it is not at all greedy for you to want more than one family member. Not at all." Jiyuuri smiles, nodding to the boy reassuringly. Kakashi doesn't think Hiri believes her, but he doesn't want to break that to the kind woman. She doesn't know yet, just how deep Hiri's trust issues lay. "Secondly, choosing us or Kakashi-san doesn't mean you'll never see the others; you'd still be allowed to visit whenever you wanted to," and here she smiles up at Kakashi, warmly, showing him clearly without words that he'll never be excluded. It is a comfort, even if only a small one. He wants to be Hiri's true family; wants it more than anything, but at least he knows he'll always be a part of the boy's life no matter the outcome of Hiri's choice.

"Because Kaka-nii loved Otou-sama?" Hiri's question is completely innocent and it takes a moment for Kakashi to understand the shock on Jiyuuri's face.

She thinks that Kakashi is _in love_ with Obito, not that he loves him.

"Kakashi-san?" She turns her gaze to the teenager and Kakashi can't help the blush that comes over his cheeks, visible over the edge of his mask, "You love Obito-chan?" He voice is quiet, almost weak, and Kakashi has less than a second to decide how he's going to respond.

Should he perpetuate her belief that he and her son were possibly romantically involved, or should he clear the matter up, letting her know that it's only a brotherly love that he feels for Obito? On one hand, letting her and her husband think that he was involved with Obito will secure his place in Hiri's life - if they don't have the typical clan reaction to homosexual relationships. On the other hand, if they do react like typical clan members, they might disregard his supposed relationship and maybe even disparage it; use it to keep Kakashi from Hiri.

But Jiyuuri's already said that he's welcome to visit whenever he wants if Hiri goes home with them.

A side thought creeps up to him and pokes him in the middle of the forehead. Rin must have thought the same as what Jiyuuri now believes. Oh. No wonder she was apologizing, he thinks to himself. She must have thought she was intruding on a relationship when she was flirting with him before Obito died.

No wonder she felt bad when she'd heard him say he loved Obito.

Kakashi's mind flutters through all of these thoughts and in the end there is really only once choice that he can make.

Hiri is his, after all. By any means he can use.

"Yes," Kakashi bows his head over Hiri's tiny body, breathing in his unique scent that tastes familiar, cuddling him close, "I love Obito."

*****xxXXxx*****

**Reviews are greatly motivating, as you already know :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Ten: _Minato_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, angst, language, PTSD, post rape/abuse/child endangerment, slash/het relationships.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** Meeting Obito's parents. All of them.

**Summary:** Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose _him_ too. Time travel. De-aged Harry.

*****xxXXxx*****

Minato stares at the trio on the ground in the center of the room. Hiri is cuddled up tightly on Kakashi's lap and Jiyuuri is huddled close to them, as though wanting to touch Hiri but not wanting to scare him. Kakashi has his face buried in Hiri's hair and if Minato didn't know any better, he would have thought that the teenager was crying.

But Kakashi isn't really one to cry for emotional pain.

It's a surprise to Minato that Kakashi is willing to admit to having been in love with Obito to a clan member. There is something niggling at the back of his brain about these particular Uchihas' relationship, but he can't seem to get the thought fully formed. It's something that Fugaku had insinuated at the meeting, he thinks, something about how Obito's parents weren't 'whores' even with a 'particular relationship' and his vehement defense of them.

He's still displeased that Tsume had said that out loud. If ever there was a thought to be kept private, that was it. Especially in front of Fugaku, since Jiyuuri is his second cousin and Fugaku is well known for being very clan oriented.

Though Minato isn't sure when the boys had time to become as close as Kakashi says, he doesn't doubt that his student loves Obito. However, just because Kakashi was in love with the Uchiha doesn't mean he has more of a right to Hiri than Obito's parents do.

It pains him to admit that with all the laws in Konoha, clan and non-clan, there is a precedent of blood over everything else. He can't think of a single time a child has been raised outside of a family when there is even just one blood relative left alive. Kakashi doesn't have a very good chance of keeping Hiri, not if Fugaku fights for him on behalf of Hiri's grandparents; Loving Obito or not.

From the corner of his eye, Minato sees Seijun reach out and touch Fugaku's elbow. The head of the Uchiha turns to the jounin and they share a look Minato has never seen before.

His attention is drawn back to Kakashi, still holding Hiri.

Rin shivers next to him and he pulls her into a half-hug, not wanting her to feel left out or alone. After all, she's just realized how much on the outside she had been when their team had been whole. She is the only girl, the only medic, the one who chased after Kakashi's affections when she was younger, the one who refused to ever really listen to Obito when he was alive. Now she knows that she was always on the outside, looking in.

Minato hopes that she doesn't withdraw from them out of guilt for unknowing trying to break Kakashi and Obito up; or out of anger for not having known about them.

He'll have to reassure her that he hadn't known either. It'll be a good bonding session, airing this kind of thing out.

He's both surprised and not that Kakashi fell in love with another boy. It's not like Kakashi screams 'gay' or what-have-you, but he's just so very different from everyone else his age. He holds himself apart of everyone else and Minato wonders if it's a defense mechanism that he's developed for fear of being discovered as 'different'.

He wishes that Kakashi had felt safe enough with him to tell him about his and Obito's relationship, though. It makes Minato feel like he isn't doing his job right when his student feels like they can't come to him with problems, personal or occupational.

"Minato-sensei?" Rin whispers from where she's tucked up against his side, and he looks down to see her eyes wide and a faint redness across her cheeks, "Do you think anyone knew about them?"

Minato shakes his head, because he can't imagine Kakashi ever telling someone without telling him first. He's been Kakashi's father figure for almost ten years; if there was anyone Kakashi and Obito could talk to about being involved, it was him.

"No, I don't think anyone knew."

"But how could they hide it?" She asks softly, "I mean, Obito lived at home. And Kakashi all but lives with you, even now. How could they be-" She stumbles over her words, "-be together without someone knowing?"

"I may be the Hokage," Minato sighs, "-but I'm not omniscient. Kakashi is a very good ninja himself and Obito wasn't the dead-last, despite what Kakashi used to call him in public."

"I always wondered about that," Rin mumbles, "Obito was the third highest in his class, so I never understood why Kakashi-kun would call him 'dead-last'." She bites her lip and pushes closer to Minato, "Maybe it was part of their cover?"

"Maybe," Minato says noncommittally. He doesn't believe that, but it doesn't hurt to let Rin have something to hold onto. Minato knows why the genius called the Uchiha 'dead-last'; Kakashi knew that Obito was the so-called weakest of the Uchiha, not the weakest of his class..

Or, Minato thinks as he watches Seijun and Jiyuuri, maybe it was because the other Uchihas had all but kicked his immediate family out of the clan.

He can see, as he watches Seijun and Jiyuuri, that despite them being married and how close they are, they are not acting as lovers do. He wonders if these Uchiha live outside of the clan complex because they want to, or because they are made to.

"Hokage-sama," Fugaku steps into his personal space and Minato lets go of Rin so that she can step away, giving them the facade of privacy.

"Fugaku-san," Minato's voice is a soft as Fugaku's is, "Have you read the proposals?"

"I have," Fugaku taps the folders that contain the guardianship proposals from both Kakashi and his cousin.

"What do you think?" Minato is pretty sure that he already knows what Fugaku thinks. Just because the man was willing to give Kakashi one last night with Hiri doesn't mean that he's going to be willing to let Hiri, a genius - if bastard - Uchiha, out of his purview.

"I have one or two more things to bring up for Seijun and Jiyuuri."

Intrigued, Minato turns to face the Uchiha fully, "Why wouldn't it have been put into the paperwork?"

Fugaku's eyes stay steadily on his, "It is a personal matter that hasn't been officially documented-" He pauses and Minato can feel the weight of the pause. "Ever," he completes in a heavy tone.

Minato straightens, gaze sharpening on Fugaku. Seijun and Jiyuuri step closer to each other, and Minato sees the way they glance at the other. He can't tell if the glances are worried or concerned, but knows there is something wrong. Very rarely are things purposefully left out of official documents, since an intentional lack of information can be considered treason, if the reason matters enough to the rest of the village or to the missions the individual takes.

It's rather obvious that this matter is serious though, from the way Fugaku's lips are tightening. He looks like he doesn't want to reveal this in front of the team and his eyes dart to the outwardly calm faces of the couple next to him.

"Seijun and Jiyuuri are not-" he pauses, looking as if he has a hard time speaking. It's a shock, because whatever Minato has thought of Fugaku otherwise, he's always been a good, persuasive politician. "They are not in the most - _traditional_ of marriages," he hedges slowly, and Minato sees Kakashi's eyes narrow at the vague statement.

Jiyuuri leans forward, a small smile on her face, and Minato thinks she looks brave.

"What my head of clan means, is that Seijun and I are both very much in love - with two other people." She leans back calmly as Minato's mind stutters to a halt. _What?_

Kakashi's head snaps up and Rin stiffens in surprise at Minato's side.

"What does that mean?" Kakashi asks, carefully neutral, and wraps his arms tighter around a worried-looking Hiri.

"Our marriage was a marriage of convenience, due to the nature of our..." she trails off, turning to Seijun and lifting an eyebrow. He looks more concerned than she does about whatever is going on, and Minato sees his eyes focus on Hiri with a kind of pain-filled resignation.

"...Sexuality." Seijun completes the statement and it takes Minato a moment to catch on to what he's not quite saying.

Minato hesitates, not sure how to ask and more than a little confused and shocked by his drawn conclusions, but apparently Kakashi has no such compunctions.

"You are both homosexual?"

There is a large amount of surprise coating his words, and Minato can't help but wonder - as the couple nod their confirmation - if the boy feels comfortable or uncomfortable with that. He's not sure if Kakashi has accepted his feelings for Obito as his being gay or bisexual, so that is something he'll have to approach his student with. Later, when he's untangled this... whatever it is.

"You married each other; and have partners on the side?" Kakashi continues, sounding less than pleased with the question, and Minato can't really blame him. He wonders what the other two partners would have to say if they knew their lovers were actually married.

Jiyuuri glares at Kakashi, and Minato feels himself bristle a little. He can't help but be defensive of his students, and he feels even more so in this situation.

"_No_. Our respective partners are fully aware of all of our relationships. We've been with them for longer than we've been married to each other." she pauses, staring defiantly at Minato and continues with her lips twitching, "They stood as best man and maid of honor at our wedding."

Minato's mind reels. This is all - a lot stranger than he'd been expecting. He'd heard of other kinds of relationship arrangements than the more traditional ones, but nothing quite this... weird.

"Since the clan is what it is," Fugaku interrupts, "-we felt it best that they be married, so that they could continue living their lives unharassed by... the less understanding members of the clan."

Minato mentally blinks at Fugaku's statement. He'd have pegged Fugaku as one of those 'less understanding' people, and his mind reels again as his views on the clan head shift a little more.

Oh. This is a whole new slew of problems, he suddenly realizes. Hiri will need a stable family, and a couple - quadru-couple? - who are obviously regarded as outsiders of the Uchiha clan might not be a fitting family for Hiri-kun. But then, Kakashi is heavily disliked by a lot of clan members himself, so he supposes that evens things out.

And on the other hand, what will Hiri think about their relationships? And, for that matter, what does he think of Kakashi loving Obito? All he's ever known about people attracted to their own sex were that they wanted to rape him!

"We were required to produce offspring by, and for, the clan," Jiyuuri bows her head as she speaks. Seijun settles a hand on her shoulder and lends her strength so that she can continue speaking, "Neither of us holds any sexual attraction for the opposite sex and so we were paired together for the sake of everyone in the clan. If we produced a child for the clan they would allow us leave the confines of the compound and live how we wanted - as long as we kept it quiet. If we did not produce a child, we would be separated and forced into traditional marriages to produce children." Jiyuuri looks up and there is a deep pain in her eyes. "We loved Obito. He was the only blessing of our union together and though we will never have another child, we will never forget Obito."

Minato suddenly understands just what it is that Jiyuuri is not quite saying. She and Seijun had been married to one another so that they would not be forced into a marriage with a spouse that _required marital rights of them_. They were allowed to stay together if they produced a child, and he can tell that it was painful for them to even just remember how they'd conceived Obito.

"So you have other people living in your house," Kakashi's words cuts through Minato's ruminations and the Hokage looks at his student. Kakashi is holding Hiri to him fiercely, from the grasp Hiri has on Kakashi's arms, almost too tightly, "You live outside of the compound; that means that your lovers live with you, right?" The teenager's voice rises as he continues talking, "You want to take Hiri- You want to take Hiri into a house with two _unknowns_ and you think that I'm just going to give him up-"

"Kakashi!" Minato cuts Kakashi off, though the boy continues glaring at the Uchiha couple. If they can be considered a couple. "That's enough," he says in a quieter tone.

"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi finally wretches his gaze from the Uchihas and looks at Minato and the blond man can see panic in his eyes, "They want to take Hiri and we _don't know anything about them_."

"We know enough," Minato tells him, "We know that they love each other, even if it's not the way we originally thought. We know that they loved Obito. We know that they will love Hiri - perhaps already love Hiri."

"But-" Kakashi sputters wildly, "_Two unknowns!_"

Jiyuuri interrupts Kakashi's sputtering, eyeing him slightly warily, as though afraid of his reaction. Minato can't blame her though, with the way Kakashi looks like he's strangling their grandson. He doubts his student is holding Hiri too hard; he's much too conscious about anything concerning the boy to slip up like that. "Actually, we were going to propose that you come with us to meet Natari and Hiro," the woman explains, shooting him a questioning glance. Before Minato has a chance to say anything, Kakashi breaks into the conversation again.

"You want to take Hiri into an unknown house in an unknown location to meet unknown people?" He snaps his jaws under his mask and Minato frowns; Kakashi is behaving quite erratically, and though he understands why his student is so protective of Hiri, the way he's acting is not an appropriate way for a potential guardian of a small child to behave.

"Obito grew up with all of us," Seijun says quietly to Minato's enraged student and Kakashi immediately stills. Minato blinks, unsure if the statement was to quiet Kakashi or just because it's the truth, and Seijun feels that Kakashi needs to recognize it.

"They were as much his parents as we were," Jiyuuri adds, grief in her voice and stance. "They miss him just as much as we do."

"Um, excuse me?" Hiri suddenly pipes up in the silence, breaking the staring contest Seijun and Kakashi had been holding. He wiggles a little in Kakashi's grasp, and is immediately released and put on the floor, though his student still has an arm wrapped protectively around the boy's small shoulders.

"Yes, Hiri-kun?" Seijun asks, crouching down to look Hiri in the eye.

"I have more grandparents?" the boy asks, pursing his lips and darting his eyes about the room, clearly hoping someone will answer, but not quite daring to demand anything. No matter how much of a right he has to do that.

"Ah, in a manner of speaking," Minato answers when Hiri's gaze come to rest on him. He's not sure he wants to explain this to the boy right now; it wouldn't be a great shock to find that same-sex relationships scare him, and he doesn't want to induce a panic attack. On the other hand, if Hiri is to see the other set of grandparents, he'll obviously need to know the truth, or it defeats the whole purpose of having him choose a living arrangement for himself.

"While it's _nice_," Kakashi practically spits out, "-that you thought of introducing your lovers before letting Hiri decide if he wants to live with you or not," Minato is more than a little appalled at his student's rudeness at this point. He certainly never taught Kakashi how to be this rude. "I think anyone who actually has _experience_ with abused children would realize how completely _idiotic_ it is to want to take a child to an unfamiliar place to meet two unfamiliar people."

"Kakashi," Minato warns the teenager with his tone, "I said that's enough."

"No it's not, Sensei," Kakashi calms a little but not much, "All Hiri knows of strangers is cruelty."

Kakashi isn't completely wrong, Minato thinks privately.

There's a sniffle from Kakashi's arms and the silver haired teenager turns to the child he holds.

"Kaka-nii-sama?" Hiri sniffs again, his eyes tearing up and his lower lip trembling, "W'as-What's wrong, Nii-sama?"

Contrition immediately makes itself known on Kakashi's face and Minato watches his student melt in front of his eyes, his hold on Hiri turning tender and his voice soft.

"Shh, shh, Hiri-kun, it's okay, I'm not mad at you, I'm not angry." Kakashi cradles Hiri to him and rocks him back and forth, kissing his forehead and his hair, stroking his face and arms. "It's okay, I just got a little worked up, it's all right, nothing's wrong."

"Does that mean I can't meet my other grandparents?" Hiri whispers, holding Kakashi tight around the neck, not looking anywhere but Kakashi.

Seijun shakes his head, "No, you can meet them, Hiri-kun," He whispers. Minato can see that he wants to reach out and touch Hiri like Jiyuuri had wanted to, but doesn't dare, "We'll call them here," He says softly, "We'll call Hiro and Natari here and you can meet them, okay?"

He sounds a little broken and Minato knows that he feels guilty. Kakashi is right, after all. No one takes an abused child into an unfamiliar place to meet unfamiliar people. Seijun works with the Torture and Interrogation department, Jiyuuri is a teacher; they do know that it's not a good idea to do something like that.

Minato can't really blame them for getting excited about having a grandchild - of having something of Obito's - though. He's sure that if Kakashi ever died and he found out that Kakashi had a son, he would be just as excited, and Kakashi isn't even his own child.

Though, isn't that pretty much what's happened since Minato feels the same about Obito as he does for Kakashi? Anything of Obito's- is half of Kakashi's, right? Given their relationship?

An odd thought comes to him and he wonders if the Uchihas had considered the possibility of homosexuality as hereditary. He quickly shakes that thought from his head. If it was that way, then Hatake Sakumo or his wife would have been gay and so would at least one of each of Seijun and Jiyuuri's parents. The Uchiha elders had probably hoped that by containing the 'problem' they wouldn't have to think about, or deal with it again.

Jiyuuri nods, "Yes," she murmurs, "I'll get Nata-chan and Hiro and bring them here. I can do that."

Minato is still wondering how Hiri is going to react when he realizes that Seijun and Hiro are together, instead of Seijun and Jiyuuri or Natari.

Then he realizes that he doesn't know who, exactly, the Uchihas are talking about since there hasn't been any family names spoken yet.

"Jiyuuri-san, why don't you go retrieve your- partners, and Seijun-san can tell Hiri a little about them, hmm?" He keeps his voice low, but loud enough for Seijun to hear him and both the Uchihas nod, almost desperate to make up for their misstep.

Fugaku looks pained and signals to Minato that he wishes to step outside for Seijun's exposition of his family dynamics. Minato cocks his head to the side in question only for Fugaku to request permission to leave again. Seijun is trying his very best to ignore Fugaku's requests and Minato realizes that however understanding Fugaku might be for Seijun and Jiyuuri's sakes, he doesn't want to know any details at all.

Minato gestures for him to leave and Fugaku carefully hides his look of relief as the door closes behind him.

"Alright," Seijun begins as Jiyuuri vanishes out the window, shunshining away, "Let me tell you about your other grandparents. My partner is Akimichi Hiro, and Jiyuuri is with Nara Natari."

Minato lets Seijun's words and tone of voice carry him away as he thinks about the two newest people Hiri is going to meet. With their full names Minato can now picture blurry faces for the two. He's done a lot of intense intelligence gathering in the last few days - ever since Hiri had fallen into their lives.

He knows that Akimichi Hiro works at the Academy with Jiyuuri and he knows that Nara Natari is a jounin who works on a T&I Retrieval Squad. He's heard an occasional story or two from Shikaku about his sister as well. He'd always wondered why the elder Nara sibling had given up her birthright as the head of the Nara clan, but knowing now that she's involved with a woman - and has been for twenty years or more - puts a whole new spin on things.

He doesn't like that so many of his clan subordinates are so judgmental, but he knows that's unlikely to change, given that clan members are all but required to make more clan babies and that doing anything less for as long as you are still "functioning" is almost treason within the clan. And the stigma attached to homosexuality has been growing within the clans, despite the decline in prejudice in the non-clan shinobi... Minato isn't sure what to do about it, either. He can't force people to be accepting, because the acceptance wouldn't have any meaning unless it was voluntary.

Shaking off his darkening thoughts, Minato turns back to where Seijun is telling Hiri - and Kakashi, because his student was listening to everything that was being said with the intention of finding hidden meanings and words, shinobi mentality turning the conversation into a mission - about his family.

"Natari-sama is Nara-sama's sister? The man who looks eaten?" Hiri breaks into the monologue, sounding uncertain, and Seijun pauses. Minato can see the cogs turning in the man's head, but isn't sure what conclusions he's come to, as his expression never changes.

"Yes, Shikaku-san does have a lot of scars, doesn't he?"

Seijun is a lot smarter than Minato had given him credit for, and very in control of himself. The latter trait is something Minato half-seriously suspects all Uchihas' are born with, though he's never voiced the rather ridiculous thought out loud.

"What is she like?" Hiri asks with hesitant interest. It's obvious he doesn't want to seem too eager for information, and equally obvious - by the way he is leaning forward in Kakashi's grasp, eyes shining - that this means the world to him.

Minato can't take as much pleasure in Hiri's happiness as he wants, because Kakashi is stiff and one of his fists are clenched at his side, out of Hiri and Seijun's sight.

"Very Nara;" Seijun's lips quirked in fondness for his wife's lover, "-lazy and intelligent to a fault."

Hiri giggles softly, nodding. Then his brow furrows and his mood changes; "Is she nice?"

Seijun snorts in faux-nonchalance - Minato is sure it is to reassure the boy - "In her own words: cruelty is so _troublesome_. So yes, she's very nice."

Hiri blinks a little, looking surprised and a bit pleased as he continues asking questions, "And Hiro-sama? Is he nice too?"

Seijun's whole face softens at the thought of his lover, and Minato is surprised at the un-Uchiha expression. He isn't sure if the softness is only allowed out in the open for Hiri's benefit, or if that's how the man always looks when thinking about the Akimichi.

"Yes, he's very nice- The kindest man I've ever met."

His tone is as gentle as the look in his eyes, and for a moment Minato feels like he should look away, as though he is intruding on something private. Then the look fades, and Seijun's lips widen in a large smile. If not for the coloring, Minato would never have guessed that this man belongs to Konoha's coldest, most aristocratic - and troublesome, to quote a Nara - clan.

Hiri nods seriously and then tilts his head to the side, a thoughtful expression scrunching up his nose. "And that's why he's your wife?"

While it's good to know that Hiri is okay with Seijun being with Hiro, and that he was so quick to pick it up, that doesn't stop their reactions to his innocent question. There isn't a single person in the room who doesn't choke at the word 'wife'. Minato recovers first, eyes wide and chest hurting for his stifled laughter, "Hiri-kun, men aren't 'wives'." He licks his lips and tries to make sure that he doesn't allow anything other than a smile grace his lips. Hiri looks over to him, as though he'd forgotten that there were other people in the room with him and Seijun, and his face is twisted in confusion.

"But- isn't that what they're called?" Hiri bites his bottom lip and cocks his head to the side, "The partner a man has sex with; that's a 'wife', right?"

Every ounce of laughter dries up within nanoseconds and the empty place in Minato's heart where the humor had once rested is now filled with pain. There can't be any laughter when Hiri says things like that, says things that make Minato futility hope that Hiri hadn't ever been called 'wife' as an insult from one of the sick bastards who had been his captors.

"Then I guess," Seijun speaks contemplatively, stroking his chin, "-I would also be considered Hiro-kun's wife."

Minato doesn't know - doesn't want to know - if Seijun is being truthful - because that is just a little too much information - or if he's trying to make light of Hiri's question without making fun of it. Hiri, on the other hand, blushes intensely and ducks his head, leaning back into Kakashi's chest.

"I'm sorry, Seijun-sama, I shouldn't have-"

"Shh," Seijun murmurs, a small smile dancing at his lips, "You didn't say anything wrong, Hiri-kun. Adults are here to help you learn, so now you know that men are called husbands no matter the sex of their partner. Now, Natari is Jiyuuri's wife, just as Jiyuuri is Natari's wife."

A knock on the door interrupts Seijun before he can continue, and Rin is the first to the door. She opens it cautiously and lets Jiyuuri and the two others with her inside.

Natari bears a striking resemblance to Shikaku, and there isn't any way in hell anyone would mistake Hiro as being from any clan other than the Akimichi clan with his bright red hair and spiral tattoo's on his cheeks.

Minato glances at Hiri and sees that boy curled up in Kakashi's arms, face pressed again his neck. He's not surprised that Hiri is feeling overwhelmed since he's the only child in a room with seven adults, but hopes intensely that he doesn't revert. Or that Harri comes out.

He wonders how the Uchihas would take to knowing that not only do they have a grandson, but that their grandson has a serious mental condition. He thinks that they might take it better than Kakashi had. After all, from the records that Minato has managed to get a hold of, the clan with the highest rate of members with mental conditions is the Uchihas.

A vague thought of the sharingan causing mental problems crosses his mind and he shakes it away immediately. The Byakugan doesn't cause mental problems, nor does the minor inbreeding in the Huyga clan, so it's unlikely that the Uchihas would have problems when the Huygas don't.

"Hiri?" Kakashi whispers to the child, stroking his back, "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

Hiri's head moves the tiniest bit and Minato thinks that the child is nodding. Kakashi's answering smile to the response only he can hear, confirms his suspicion and he relaxes. Hiri is a little overwhelmed, but dealing with it. Or, at least, _someone_ is dealing with it.

He can only hope that it's Hiri.

"So," Jiyuuri knees gracefully beside her legal husband and takes one of his hands in hers, "This is Nara Natari," she introduces the woman standing behind her and Natari smiles lazily at Hiri. Hiri peeks out from Kakashi's neck and blinks his big, green eyes at her. Natari's smile goes from lazy to genuine and the change softens her entire face.

Hiro places a broad hand on Seijun's shoulder and smiles down at Hiri, getting to his knees like his partner and Jiyuuri have, "Hello, Hiri-kun. I'm Akimichi Hiro."

Minato is actually pleased that of the four adults being introduced to Hiri as his grandparents, one of them is an Akimichi. Not that he has anything against the Uchihas or the Naras, but the Akimichis have always had a reputation of being the kindest of all the great clans in Konoha. There hasn't been a single child in the Akimichi clan who hasn't been loved by everyone even vaguely related to the clan. Ever since Chouza had become genin teammates with Shikaku and Inoichi, the Naras and Yamanakas have also been loosening up as well. Obito's general attitude makes a lot more sense now that he knows his student grew up with an Akimichi pseudo/step-father.

Obito certainly never learned how to love life so loudly from an Uchiha, not even these two.

"It's nice to meet you, Natari-sama, Hiro-sama," Hiri whispers, letting go of Kakashi completely. Kakashi looks desperate for a moment before his face goes blank and he just watches Hiri with a fanatical gleam in his eye. Hiri steps forward cautiously and gives a polite formal bow to his gathered grandparents.

"May I hug you, Hiri-kun?" Hiro asks, his baritone voice kind, "I know you don't know me yet, but I love you already."

Minato takes careful stock of Hiri's carriage and realizes that Hiri isn't scared even if he's hesitant, so he catches Kakashi's eye and signals that he's going to step outside and speak to Fugaku. Kakashi nods in acknowledgment and Minato makes his way to the door. He smiles at Rin on his way and she smiles back before her eyes are drawn away from him and towards Hiri.

He finds Fugaku standing with military posture at the end of the hall.

"Fugaku-san," He murmurs. He doesn't want to startle the Uchiha, but the man looks pretty deep in thought.

"Hokage-sama," Fugaku mutters back, "-and how is Hiri-kun taking to the... _partners_?"

"Do you really care?" Minato wonders out loud and Fugaku snorts, something no self-respecting Uchiha would do unless under an extreme amount stress.

"I have to," Fugaku finally looks up and Minato can see the turmoil in his black eyes. "The Elders know about Hiri, though without specific details other than he's activated his sharingan. They are demanding that I gain control over the child."

"And you are telling me this because-?" Minato queried, raising an eyebrow.

"You are the Hokage. Your word is law," Fugaku's shoulders slump and he shakes his head, "And I am deluding myself because even the Hokage cannot interfere with clan law. I fucking hate the obscure laws written into Konoha's founding."

"One would think the clans would welcome a law that allows them to get around the Hokage." Minato's voice is devoid of any inflection.

"Unless the clan is-" Fugaku cuts himself off and turns his head away, staring out the window.

Whatever Fugaku was about to say, Minato knows it's important. And forbidden for him to speak of. He wonders if it's something to do with Hiri, or just the clan.

"I approve of the Uchiha petition," Minato tells the man and Fugaku sets his jaw. Minato is confused about why he isn't happy that his clan will get Hiri, but doesn't ask.

"I-" His jaw tightens and it looks almost painful for him to continue, "-do not."

Baffled, Minato releases his hold on his expressions and his face twists in confusion, "The hell? Why not? They're your family; you were all for taking Hiri yesterday."

"Things have changed," Fugaku studiously avoids looking at Minato, "I don't approve of their petition. I do approve of Hatake-san's."

"-So you're just going to let Kakashi have Hiri." Still not understand what the hell Fugaku is doing, Minato is stumped.

"Yes."

"And if Hiri chooses the Uchiha's?"

"He won't," Fugaku sounds very certain that the child won't choose his clan and Minato is still so thrown off his game from Fugaku's refusal of his cousin's petition that he lets the man walk to the window without asking any more questions.

He doesn't know why Fugaku is so sure that Hiri will chose Kakashi and he doesn't know why the Uchiha isn't going to allow his clan control over Hiri and it makes him angry that he isn't aware of what's going on with the stubborn man.

It also scares him because this came out of the left field and as Hokage, Minato can't have holes like that in his intelligence.

It seems so uncharacteristic of the Uchiha to do something so incomprehensible, and Minato wonders if it's really because of the way the quadru-couple has chosen to live their lives. Yes, the clan head had been accommodating to their lifestyle, but he obviously wasn't too comfortable with it, from the way he'd been almost frantic in getting out of the room before the partners had entered.

Minato wouldn't be too surprised to find that the Uchiha head is homophobic, even if he won't admit it out loud. He's not sure whether he would admire the man - for allowing the couples their freedom, despite his personal feelings about the matter - or be disappointed in him for being narrow-minded, if that is the case. Or maybe it's something else, some other reason that Minato can't see yet.

The small hairs at the nape of his neck raise, and a chill draws through Minato's body. There are too many undercurrents in this, he thinks with a creased brow. Too many things that seem hidden under the surface, waiting to spring out and bite at some inopportune moment unless he make some kind of preemptive strike.

Minato knows he won't give Hiri to the couples now, no matter what. He won't risk the boy getting caught up in a possible plot and used as a pawn for whoever might be behind this affair. Hiri is much too precious for that, and while he doesn't doubt the couples sincerity and genuine affection for the child, Hiri needs safety.

That being said; he's not sure Kakashi will be able to provide for the boy. He's seen those frantic, almost zealous looks his student throws Hiri every now and again and knows - no matter how much he might want to pretend otherwise - that it's not a sign of a stable relationship. Or a stable mind, for that matter.

Adding Kakashi and Obito's relationship to that, and the whole situation twists even further in his mind. What an opaque mess things have become.

"Your decision stands firm then? You wish for my student to adopt the child?"

Fugaku nods, eyes darting to him and then away again, and Minato wants to pressure him - wants to take him by the shoulders and shake answers from the man, but he does nothing. Whatever is going on is something that needs to be dealt with discreetly, without the clan's knowledge... though he doesn't doubt Fugaku would have his suspicions if Minato got involved.

He also doesn't doubt that the Uchiha head will keep his silence, which tilts everything in a whole new direction. He's never, _ever_, seen this man as a potential ally in anything and suddenly that has changed.

Now he has to go back into that room and tell the Uchiha family that they won't be taking Hiri home with them; that they'll have to ask someone two years younger than their late son for permission to see their grandson. It's not a task that he looks forward to.

Fugaku asks him silently if he is allowed to leave, if he has to be there when Minato tells his clan members the decisions that they've come to. Minato waves him off. The Hokage has been shocked enough today. He doesn't really want anything else to do with Fugaku at the moment. If the man keeps up this startling new attitude, Minato is going to have to deal with the usually stuck up man far more often.

Besides, he thinks to himself with some humor as he opens the door to the meeting room, as shocking and baffling as this last encounter with Fugaku has been, it's also been a little... fun.

When he steps into the room and sees Kakashi in the center of the room, practically gnashing his teeth at a not-so-invisible enemy and Hiri being carefully held by Hiro whilst Seijun pets one of his arms, he's a little dismayed. He's glad that Kakashi hasn't yet exploded, but wary of that lack of outward reaction.

"Hiri-kun?" Minato draws everyone's attention and Hiro hurriedly puts the child down, looking faintly nervous. Hiri gathers the bottom of his shirt in his hands and toddles over to Minato, leaning against a knee. Minato looks down at the adorable kid and almost 'awws' out loud.

"Minato-sama," Hiri looks up at him with very serious eyes.

He crouches down and rests on his heels. Hiri leans further into him. He wonders when Hiri got this comfortable with him and then thinks that maybe he might be the person Hiri is looking to as a proper father figure. Hiri's already claimed Kakashi as an older brother and he's pretty sure that Rin will be, if not a sister, at the very least an aunt.

Even through the blank faces around him he can feel the jealously.

"Hiri, how do you like your grandparents?" He wraps a careful arm around Hiri and the boy cuddles up into him.

It takes a moment for Hiri to answer, but when he does no one is really surprised by his answer, "I like them, Minato-sama." Hiri licks his lips and hunches his shoulders, "Are you going to take them away from me?"

Minato settles Hiri securely in his arms and stands up, "No, Hiri, I won't take them away from you." His voice lowers and he smiles a little sadly, "May I ask you if you're ready to pick who to live with?"

Wide green eyes fill with anxiety and Hiri's tiny little body starts to shake a little, "I- I have to pick?" His voice is as tiny as his body is and Minato feels bad about forcing the boy to make the decision, especially because there isn't really a decision for him to make. There really is only one option open right now and that is having Kakashi formally adopt Hiri and having both of them live at his house until they're a little older.

Minato isn't much for missions outside of Konoha anymore anyway, so he'll have to settle for the auspicious title of 'stay-at-home dad' while Kakashi does his missions. There will be a paternal leave given to Kakashi for three to six months, but Minato knows that Kakashi won't be able to stand more than three months with no missions without going crazy, even if he'd still try, for Hiri's sake. The teenager is just too invested in his work for him to take a long leave of absence from ANBU.

"Would you like for me to pick for you, Hiri-kun?" Minato asks. The Uchiha family stiffen and all four of them look at him, their throats tight and bodies forcibly relaxing after a moment. Hiri looks between his grandparents and their lovers and Team Minato.

Finally he shakes his head, "No, thank you Minato-sama." His body shivers and he refuses to look up from his hands, buried in Minato's Hokage coat, "I would like to stay with Kakashi-nii-sama."

It's like all the hopes and dreams of the quadru-couple are crushed with Hiri's decision. The four adults are quick to cover their dismay, but Minato can still see vestiges of sorrow in how they hold themselves.

Kakashi, however, can't help himself. His eye goes wide and he steps forward and Hiri reaches out from Minato's arms. Kakashi pulls Hiri to himself and cuddles him, holding him tight and smiling so wide that everyone can see it through his mask. Minato watches his student laugh and cry at the same time and Hiri wipes away his new guardian's tears and presses closed mouth kisses over Kakashi's masked cheeks.

"Thank you, Hiri-kun," Kakashi whispers, his knees folding under him, a rapturous look in his uncovered eye, and Minato resists frowning. He's going to have to talk to Kakashi about making sure not to suffocate Hiri in his love for the boy - and for Obito.

"I should be the one thanking you, Nii-sama," Hiri whispers softly and then turns towards the grandparents. They're smiling brave smiles, painful smiles, smiles full of loss and grief and it hurts to watch good people brought down like this. He's not laying any blame at Hiri's feet, because he's absolutely sure that if they had found the boy before Kakashi, Hiri would have chosen them instead.

"I like you lots, Obaa-samas, Ojii-samas," he pauses, lower lip trembling and then continues, "-but Kaka-nii is..." he trails off looking a little confused.

Bending down with a smile on her face, Jiyuuri pets his hair gently; with a soothing cadence she questions, "Kakashi-san was your family before we were, yes?"

Hiri nods a little, and then pats her cheek in comfort. "I can come visit you? Lots?"

Looking pained, Jiyuuri sighs, "That depends on your 'Kaka-nii'," she murmurs softly and Hiri immediately turns his head towards Kakashi, a question on his lips.

"Of course you may see them whenever you wish, Hiri," the teenager says before the boy has a chance to speak, and Minato thinks the reassuring tone in his voice sounds a little off. Frowning, he decides to disturb the peace once more before making the guardianship official.

"Hiri-kun, may I ask you why you chose Kakashi so quickly?" Minato asks, calmly ignoring the furious look his student shoots him. He won't allow Kakashi to treat the boy so possessively that it interferes with other people's interaction with Hiri.

"Besides being my big brother? 'ka-sama was Otou-sama's wi- husband," Hiri answers primly, stumbling a little over his words. And that somehow breaks a lot of the tension, though it might have more to do with the utterly shocked expression on Kakashi's face.

"'Kaa-sama'?" Natari asks lazily, though the twitching of her lips betraying her amusement. Jiyuuri has her head buried in her wife's neck, shoulders shaking with mirth.

"Eh? Kaka-nii," Hiri says, looking confused even as he confirms who the designation belongs to. "Kaka-nii didn't marry Otou-sama?"

Minato sees Kakashi's mouth gaping under the mask and can't help the snort that escapes him. Seijun notices, letting out a hacking sound that in any other situation _might_ have been a cough, but mostly sounds like he's choking back hysterical laughter.

Kakashi coughs, clearing his throat, "No, Hiri-kun, I wasn't married to Obito."

"But-" Hiri frowns, "You loved him. Why wouldn't you get married?"

Minato wants to see how this is going to play out because it's shaping up to be hilarious. He isn't the only one watching either, given the smiles on the faces of everyone else in the room. Even Rin looks intrigued and curious.

"Ah- Obito and I- our ages-" Kakashi trips over his words, and Minato sees a blush creep up over the edge of his mask and clutches a fist to his stomach trying to hold in his laughter.

"Ages?" Hiri asks in confusion and then frowns, "Kaka-nii, are you okay? You're kind of red..." he trails off, peering intently at Kakashi, and then adds worriedly, "Now you're even redder!"

Minato hears what sounds like something coming from a hyena from one of the other adults, though he can't tell who, and Jiyuuri looks like she's having a seizure trying to keep herself from revealing her amusement. The left corner of Natari's mouth is hiked up, revealing half a row of white teeth and Minato sees her clutching her lover's hand in her fingers.

Both Hiro and Seijun are shaking a little, with the Akimichi directing a beaming close-mouthed grin at Minato's student. Minato can see tears of mirth in his eyes and Seijun looks like he's trying his best not to sneeze, his whole face twitching. It's undignified. It's uncharacteristic. It's a relief.

"Ah, Hiri-kun," Kakashi wheezes out, "It's not customary for teenagers to get married so early... in Konoha," he adds, a shadow crossing his expression for whatever reason.

"Why do ages matter if you loved each other?" Hiri blinks, tilting his head to the side. It's a perfectly logical question, really, but there is no way for them to answer it. Minato doesn't think Hiri will understand if they try to explain about emotional maturity and responsibility, because his childhood has been so much more horrible than even most shinobi.

"It's just not done," Kakashi finally says, looking a little like someone's just whacked him upside the head. Hiri stares at him, even more bewildered-looking than before, but doesn't contradict him.

Finally, after a heartbeat of silence, he asks tentatively, "Is it because of sex?"

Kakashi's previous red face goes white and Minato curses under his breath. He does not want this conversation to continue, he doesn't want to be talking about the proper age for people to start having sex. Knowing Hiri as he does, Minato is fairly sure that the child will think it's his own fault that he's had sex too young.

"Yes," Kakashi gets a hold of himself and sits on the floor, drawing Hiri in between his spread knees, looking him full in the face, "Yes, Hiri, it is about sex. I was only thirteen last year, Obito was fifteen. We were too young to be having sex."

The way Kakashi says it makes Minato wonder if Kakashi regrets having had sex with Obito. It sounds like he felt he was too young, and yet all of them in the room know that if he hadn't have started the relationship when they were that young, there never would have been a relationship.

There is a flicker of something in Hiro's eyes that makes Minato think the man isn't sure he likes what he sees, but he's too involved with Hiri and Kakashi's dilemma at the moment to do more than make a mental note of it.

"Hiri," Minato sits across from Kakashi, crossing his legs and letting their knees touch. Kakashi is reluctant to give Hiri up to the Hokage, but does so. "It's illegal for shinobi like Kakashi and myself to have sex before the age of thirteen. For civilians," Here, Minato has to pause because Hiri doesn't know any civilians for him to make an example of. Eventually he just continues, "-the legal age is sixteen."

Hiri's eyes get really big, "But- I-" He stutters and Minato hugs him gently.

"I know; shh, I know." It's becoming very common place to sooth Hiri and that is more than a little twisted. He doesn't want it to be so familiar for him that he knows how to calm down a traumatized hysterical child without a second thought. "It's not your fault, Hiri," he whispers as he kisses Hiri's crown.

Hiri doesn't seem to be listening though, because his face twists with unhappiness; "But I had-" he starts, a sob making its way through the words, and Minato puts a hand against Hiri's cheek very gently.

"No, Hiri. You didn't have sex; it was not consensual, what was done to you," Minato says softly, trying not to mind the way everybody in the room stiffens. The quadru-couple are leaking a very slight amount of killing intent, tightly controlled, but waiting to be unleashed.

"Con-sen-sual?" Hiri's tongue twists around the words and he sniffles a little, digging a fist into his eye in an attempt to clear away tears, looking miserable and so very young.

"You didn't want it," Minato explains softly, keeping his body relaxed and shutting out all possible mental images trying to invade. He doubts the quadru-couple manages to do that though, and suspects they'll be having nightmares about what could possibly have happened in Hiri's short life. Just like Minato's team, in other words.

Minato isn't sure if he's glad there are more people to share the hurt and worry and rage at the people who hurt their boy, but he thinks he's glad that Obito didn't have to witness it. A horrible thought, to be sure, but Obito was so filled with life and joy and Minato wouldn't have wanted that dimmed for anything.

Such life and joy was practically unheard of for a shinobi to keep and Obito had been an oddity, a wonderful, hope-inducing, oddity.

Hiri's voice is very, very small and tremulous when he directs his next question towards Kakashi and Minato's heart clenches, rage welling up underneath a world of hurt, at the boy's words; "But Kaka-nii and Otou-sama did? Why would they do that when it hurts so much?"

There really is only one way to answer Hiri, but Minato doesn't want to say. He hopes to every ancestor who's ever died that Kakashi doesn't answer either. He doesn't want Hiri to hear that sex only hurts if it's done wrong; hell, he doesn't want to keep talking about sex with Hiri around at all.

Kakashi's hand shakes a little as he strokes Hiri's cheek, "I've never been hurt while having sex, Hiri-kun," he murmurs and Minato eyeballs the teenager in a serious manner. Yes, he does know that Kakashi has implicitly stated that he loved Obito, but Minato doesn't really want to hear about his two young students having sex, that's for sure.

"Oh," Hiri sniffs and fidgets, "It didn't hurt?" He whispers his question and Kakashi shakes his head.

"No, Hiri-kun, it's not supposed to hurt."

Seijun leaves the small group family who are standing at the edge of the room with barely contained fury and kneels next to the males on the floor. "Hiri-kun," his voice is thick, as though he can only speak by forcing the words out of a throat that is closed from spasming neck muscles, "Hiri, can we not..." He trails off, cheeks wet and eyes sorrowful.

Seijun is not a weak man, nor does he have a weak stomach; given that he works in the peripherals of the T and I department, it's required that he is able to handle himself with aplomb. Minato is still not surprised that he is having difficulty with Hiri's abuse. Hiri is his grandson after all.

"Yes," the Hokage takes over for the Uchiha, "Let's not talk about that right now."

For a short moment - only seconds, really - Hiri looks as though he wants to say something else but then his jaw snaps shut and the boy settles in Minato's arms, seemingly content to listen to him.

*****xxXXxx*****

Yes, it looks like a part of Obito's Legacy is starting to resemble our other story's (Intimate Relations) main plot line, with the misunderstandings about the relationship between Kakashi and Obito but it's this fic isn't about Kakashi and Obito's relationship, it's about Team Minato and Hiri. However, if you want more of those kinds of misunderstandings, you might want to check that one out; especially if you prefer a little less angst.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** Obito's Legacy, Chapter Eleven: _Rin_

**Author:** _wife-chan_

**Rating:** Mature

**Warning:** AU, angst, language, PTSD, post rape/abuse/child endangerment, slash/het relationships.

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.

**Notes:** We haven't abandoned this. We probably never will, seeing as we have fifty million idea's for OL (and we may or may not have several thousand words in story format that occur in the future about ten years from now...).

*****xxXXxx*****

Everyone has fallen silent, and Rin observes a slightly sniffling Hiri in her teammates arms. Kakashi is stroking his back very gently as Seijun watches them with sorrowful eyes. Rin doesn't really know what to say, how to add to the comfort Kakashi is providing for Hiri, and that kind of hurts. She doesn't want to be on the outside.

With that thought in mind, she walks across the floor and crouches by Kakashi. Hiri turns his head to look at her and Rin smiles at him. The boy is so strong it makes her feel a little weak. She doesn't know how a toddler, how such a young child with such a horrible past, can be this strong. She's seen shinobi with less inner strength than this boy.

"Hiri-kun," she murmurs, "Are you alright?"

Hiri sniffles a little, but his eyes are no longer leaking tears and he nods into Kakashi's chest. Rin isn't sure she believes that he's being truthful, but the lack of tears counts for something.

"Perhaps we should wrap it up for today?" she hears Minato say lightly, and she feels the two couples stiffen behind her. Rin can't even imagine how hard it must be to be denied taking their newly found grandson home, knowing he'll never live with them.

"Obaa-samas and Oji-samas are leaving?" Hiri asks, squirming a little in Kakashi's grasp. Her teammate reluctantly lets him go, putting him to the floor with a stabilizing hand to his back. Hiri looks up at his grandparents, at Seijun especially, and frowns a little. Rin wonders at the pain she sees in Kakashi's eyes, at how possessive he is of the boy, and knows that will need to be dealt with. Because it's not healthy to be so attached to a person that you can't share them with others.

"Only for now, Hiri-kun," Seijun smiles down at them, but Rin can see how hard won that smile is.

"Okay," Hiri smiles back at his grandfather and escapes Kakashi's hands to hug Seijun's legs tightly. Seijun's broken smile gets a little easier to look at and Rin feels pretty happy that they've managed to help Hiri enough that he's touching people he doesn't know well on his own.

Jiyuuri, Natari, and Hiro all get to their knees and Hiri - almost - gleefully hugs them all. Jiyuuri goes to kiss his cheek during their hug and Minato clears his throat loudly, making her pause and look up at him. Rin's sensei subtly shakes his head at the brunette woman and Jiyuuri flicks her fingers in ANBU code to tell her Hokage that she understands.

Rin wonders when a sensei at the academy would ever have time to learn ANBU hand signals.

Maybe Jiyuuri was ANBU when she'd been younger. Or maybe she'd worked with ANBU, but not been a part of it. It doesn't happen often, attaching regular shinobi to the Black Ops, but it does happen. Either way, it's not something to ask about in the open - or at all - but Rin is sure she's not the only one who noticed the exchange.

She sneaks a glance at Kakashi, who is staring at the Uchiha woman thoughtfully. She wonders if the fact that one of Hiri's grandparents may be ANBU is upsetting or reassuring to Kakashi, and hopes for the latter. It would be good if Kakashi could learn to trust the people he will be sharing Obito's son with.

"We will see you later, Hiri-kun," Natari murmurs lazily, tapping the tip of Hiri's nose with a fingertip before she rises. Hiri follows her ascent with big eyes, nodding eagerly before yawning widely.

"And you should probably get some sleep," Hiro adds, a trickle of laughter in his voice that has the air in the room growing less tense. Rin frowns though, because here again is the evidence that something is wrong with the child. Hiri shouldn't be tired yet. He hasn't been up for that long.

She tries very hard not to show any outward signs of her concern when Hiri yawns again, rubbing at his eyes with closed fists as he toddles back to Kakashi and snuggles back into the teenager's chest. If she shows even a hint of worry, Kakashi will pick up on it, and she doesn't want that. So she smiles widely at the boy, nodding, and then Kakashi wraps his arms around Hiri, shifting him in his embrace before standing up.

"Yes, lets go get some sleep, shall we?" she says, and she feels Minato's eyes bore into her. Perhaps her words were a tad too bright.

Hiri just nods with her, smiling and Rin can feel her heart clench. Her tests have shown _nothing_ is wrong with Hiri; that the little boy is completely healed. Other than the fact that he's poisonous.

Not poisoned, but _poisonous_.

As the team makes their way back to Minato's house, Rin wonders when Minato's sensei's team will be back in Konoha. Now that they know that Orochimaru is not the man who hurt Hiri, she really wants them back in the village. Tsunade-sama would be a great help in finding out how to help the boy.

Inside the door, Rin decides to gauge just how possessive Kakashi is of Hiri and steps between Kakashi and the stairs, holding her arms out, "Here Kakashi-kun, I'll put Hiri-kun to bed."

Kakashi's eyes flash at her and his arms tighten around the boy, though not enough to cause Hiri any discomfort. "No," he grounds out, "I'll be fine putting him to bed."

As soon as Kakashi is around the corner at the top of the steps, Rin turns to Minato and looks at him with both worry and disapproval. She bites her lip and shakes her head, hissing quietly so Kakashi doesn't overhear her, "That isn't right, Minato-sensei. Kakashi shouldn't be so attached. It's not good for either of them."

"Rin," Minato's eyes are tired and she feels a little bad about pointing out yet _another_ thing that will have to be dealt with, "Hiri is the only thing left of Kakashi's lover other than his left eye. Of course he's going to be too attached. I'm sure that it'll get better once Kakashi is more used to Hiri being around."

Rin can't help but flush at the gentle reproach in her sensei's tired voice. He's right, she knows, and maybe she's exaggerating her worry about Kakashi's behavior, but things like these are better to catch in time before they truly become a problem.

"I suppose," she murmurs, folding her arms. Minato reaches out, clasping her shoulder gently, before he leans back and appraises her. Rin straightens automatically, like she does when Minato-sensei assesses the team before a mission and Minato purses his lips.

"So what's really bothering you, Rin?" he asks in a firm voice, eyes gentle but probing. Rin can't help but be surprised that he'd so easily caught onto the fact that something was bothering her, though she knows she should have expected it. Minato wouldn't have become Hokage without being perceptive, and more than that, he knows her personally.

So she lets the worry bloom into her eyes, relieved that she doesn't have to hide it or carry it alone. "There is something - _wrong_, with Hiri-kun," she says softly, feeling her stomach shift as she speaks the words aloud. Then she swallow painfully, chuckling weakly, "More than the obvious, I mean."

"Wrong how?" Minato asks quietly and she doesn't want to worry him, because as he drags a hand through his blond, spiky hair, he looks as tired as she's ever seen him.

But he's the Hokage. He's Minato-sensei. She has to tell him, both for professional and personal reasons. "Poison."

"Slow acting?" Minato's gaze turns sharp as he asks.

Rin shakes her head, still confused over this issue, "No- Yes- Well, see, Hiri's not poisoned. But he's got poison in his body. I don't want to scare you, but it's in his blood, bones, _and_ heart."

Minato raises a hand to his chest, placing it over his heart and kind of gawks at her, "And how is that not supposed to scare me?" He asks, incredulous, "You're telling me that Hiri has poison in him and I can see that you're not sure if that's bad, or if it's curable, or what it's even doing to him in the first place."

"That's just it, Sensei, I don't know why he's not dead." She keeps her tone even and her voice quiet. She's really not trying to scare her teacher, but she has to talk this out, figure this out.

"Dead?" Minato almost yelps, "Why would he be dead?"

"Because it's deadly!" She hisses at him, "The poison in him is one of the deadliest poisons the hospital has ever seen and _it's in his heart_." She stops and makes herself calm down, "It's in his heart and from what I could tell at the exam, it's actually coming _from_ his heart and spreading out into the rest of his body. But there's nothing in or near his heart that could produce the poison."

Minato looks as confused as Rin feels, "How is that possible?" He asks her softly, "If it's coming from his heart-" He pauses and his head tilts to the side. "... Could his body be making the poison? Could it be... natural for Hiri?"

Rin takes a mental step back and thinks about that. Well, that idea seems impossible, but- "Maybe..." she trails off.

It would make some twisted kind of sense, she supposes. But she'll have to do more tests to determine if that's really the case. For all she knows, it could be a poison that has somehow attached itself to Hiri's heart, or perhaps merged with the tissue...

"Should we tell Kakashi?" Rin asks slowly, folding her arms as she continues to ponder the strangeness of the situation and trying to contain her worry. She'd really like to do more tests right away, but Hiri obviously does need to sleep.

"Not yet," Minato says, one of the corners of his lips drawing up in an attempt to smile. "Let him have the evening nursing the realization that Hiri chose him to be his family; that his lover's son chose him." The last part is added quietly and Rin looks away, nodding even as she draws a steadying breath. She wants more time to digest the fact that her two teammates had been in love, wants to talk to - or at least try to talk to - Kakashi about it. Wants to know why he'd never told her, even as her pursuit of him must have been more than an annoyance, given that he'd been in a relationship.

She mentally shakes those thoughts away for now, "Do you think... Harri... might know more about the poison?" she hedges. She doesn't dislike the alter per se, but she's not really eager to see those too-old eyes and that wary body language again. That said, if there is even the slightest possibility that Harri might know something about whatever may - or may not - be hurting Hiri, then she won't hesitate.

Minato shifts a little, serious eyes glittering as they probing her and then her sensei sighs. "It's possible, but whether Harri would be willing to share..." he sighs again, rubbing a large hand over his forehead.

And that's really the question: whether Harri will be willing to share. He hasn't been willing to share a whole lot about anything, but Rin has to hope that he does see that they're trying to do their best by him and his host.

She pauses her thoughts and runs that last one again. Harri and his host. That's not the right way to think of it, she knows, but it's hard not to see Harri as someone completely different from Hiri - who is too innocent and naive because even though he knows he's been hurt, it's more abstract with him. Harri is harsh and demanding and just by _being_, he's in their face that Hiri isn't well. Not at all.

"So then," Rin gathers her thoughts as she speaks, "We'll leave it until tomorrow since it's not doing Hiri any harm that we can tell. I just wonder..." She trails off and bites her lip. Minato looks at her with the curious eyes of someone invested in learning everything about what she has to say, "If Hiri gets hurt, if he cuts his finger or skins his knee, I don't know what that would do to the poison. I don't know if that would be dangerous for others to touch."

"Can the poison be leached through skin?" Minato asks, eyes dark in thought. He's probably thinking the same things she had thought when she'd figured out that Hiri was poisonous. She didn't want to be responsible for Hiri's poison accidentally killing someone - maybe even Kakashi - because of a lapse in her judgment.

"I don't know, we didn't get that far. I don't know if it's a contract poison or an injection one. We only really tested the poison against blood samples."

"I see," Minato licks his lips and nods, "So if he gets hurt before we figure out what exactly is going on with it, we'll just have to wear gloves when we put a bandage on him."

She nods with him as she considers the poison again. It had seemed so minor when she'd found it in his body during the exam, but when she'd gotten the sample to the hospital and started testing it, it seemed stronger. She didn't know of any poison that got _stronger_ away from the source. "Be careful, Minato-sensei. It's stronger when it's not inside him."

Minato's eyebrows arch in surprise. "Do you have any idea why?"

Rin shakes her head. She has several theories, but she'd not willing to start throwing out guesses without a proper base to stand on. Maybe the poison reacts to air? That would explain why it grew stronger outside Hiri's body. That could mean that it might continue growing stronger the longer it's out in the open. She'll need another blood sample collected in an airtight container if she wants to see how the poison acts recently taken from the source.

Kakashi walks down the stairs just as Rin is about to tell their teacher that more tests will need to be done, and she closes her mouth. "Any idea about what?" he asks, looking distracted. Rin wouldn't be surprised if he is feeling a bit overwhelmed - Kakashi has experienced such emotional upheaval these past few days that she's surprised he hasn't collapsed yet. Especially since he's so unused to dealing with emotions.

"Nothing," Rin says blandly, continuing before her teammate has the chance to pick up on her hidden tension, "Is Hiri alright?"

Kakashi looks up, and she sees his mask crease as he frowns. "He's as well as can be expected."

"Good," she smiles genuinely at him, "That's good." At least she hopes it's good.

"Is something supposed to be wrong?" He asks, intent and wary. He always has been suspicious, even by shinobi standards.

He's also always been one to see underneath the underneath, she thinks to herself. Before she can deny anything, Minato speaks up, "Hiri-kun is asleep?"

Kakashi's eye glitters a little and she can see the smile under his mask, "Yes." He looks down to his hand, "He- He wouldn't let go of my hand. I had to wait until he was asleep to get him to let go."

Minato grins, "That's what children do, Kakashi," His expression turns serious then. "Kakashi," Rin's sensei sounds like he always does before he tell someone something very important, "You have to remember now that you're Hiri's guardian. He's going to be looking to you for everything; clothing, food, shelter- love."

"I can do that," Kakashi nods his head, "I have money - the Hatake estate is still large..."

"I know," Minato says, "But what are you going to do about missions? You are currently in ANBU."

Rin can't help it. For all she's been through a shock after finding out that Kakashi and Obito were together, the way Hiri had called him 'Kaa-sama' is just to much of an opening for her to pass up, "Maternity leave?" She suggests in her most innocent tone.

Kakashi gapes at her and Minato chokes and has to clear his throat. He covers his mouth his his hand as he coughs a few times, trying to regain his somber countinence but she can see him subtly wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

In a few moments, he's composed again, but Rin can see his lips twitch, even as he stares at Kakashi thoughtfully.

"It's not a bad idea," he says finally and both Rin and Kakashi turn to him with incredulous expressions. Even if Kakashi had been a biological parent, she strongly doubts that the council would have granted him _maternity leave_ without fuss. Unless Minato intends to wield his political sword as Hokage and just force that decision though. Even then, though, she's not sure they'd be all that cooperative; Kakashi is the youngest ANBU to ever had risen that quickly in the ranks, and too valuable a shinobi to just put aside. "That's not _exactly_ what I meant," Minato holds up placating hands at their looks, grin breaking through as he again tries to stifle laughter. It's nice to see a little of the weariness fade out of his eyes, and Rin feels her shoulders relax.

"What did you mean, then?" Kakashi folds his arms across his chest, looking at their sensei through a narrow, annoyed eye. There is no hostility in his gaze though, so Rin knows he's not truly annoyed. She's sure that, as much as Kakashi must be distracted by his new guardianship, he hasn't missed that Minato is growing tired.

"Paternity leave?" he shrugs a little, and at first Rin thinks it's another joke, but Minato's face is serious. Kakashi's face shifts, and Rin thinks he just raised an eyebrow in question. Apparently Minato agrees, because he shrugs again, shifting to lean back on the wall while he explained; "It was utilized every now and again during the war, since it was becoming rarer for children to have both parents around," his words are soft, and Rin looks away for a moment. She knows - everyone knows - that 'not around' means 'dead', and it's upsetting that so many parents would have been killed that special laws had to be created as the routine in such cases.

"How long would the leave last?" Rin asks after a beat of silence. Kakashi looks at Minato with the kind of intense gaze that she usually connects to battlefield awareness and wonders what that perceptive mind of his has figured out.

"Depended on the age of the child," Minato's eyes turn to her, and his smile is gentle. He's always been very gentle for being such a badass shinobi.

"And for a three year old?" Kakashi's voice is low and curious and Rin finds herself just as curious. She's never heard of paternity leave before now.

"There are a lot of other factors as well," Minato expands, "Whether there is any other family that can take the child, what kind of missions the parent takes, living conditions of the father-"

"Uh," Rin half raises her hand, looking at Kakashi, "Don't you live in a bachelor loft when you aren't staying with Sensei?"

He nods, "Yes." Given Kakashi's short answer, she's very sure he doesn't want to talk about it, but Minato doesn't give him the opportunity to refuse.

"That isn't at all appropriate for a child, Kakashi," Minato frowns, "You still own your father's house, correct?"

Kakashi scowls at the wall, his visible eye distant, "Yes, Sensei."

"Well," Rin steps in to mediate between them because although they've never had a beat-down, drag-out fight, anything to do with Kakashi's father... raises his hackles. "Kakashi's been staying here since he found Hiri. Maybe," She pauses and looks to Minato with wide, innocent, and pleading eyes, working her budding, teenaged, feminine wiles for all they're worth, "-maybe he could stay here with you for a bit longer?"

Minato blinks at her, an amused glint in his eyes even as he looks to be considering the suggestion seriously and Rin meets Kakashi's startled gaze with a slightly smug smile. She's managed to startle him out of his abrupt funk, and apparently the suggestion she'd laid forward wasn't one he'd considered himself. Or perhaps he didn't think he could ask for such a favor.

Her teammate had a way of taking everything onto himself and trying his best to complete things without the help of others when possible, as sad as that is. He's gotten better though, since Obito's passing... Every cloud has a silver lining, Rin thinks sadly. This cloud is too large and dark to have the silver lining make up for it, though.

"That's a possibility, as long as Kakashi is agreeable," Minato concedes, eyes sliding from her to Kakashi. The genius Hatake blinks and then tilts his head to the side, rather like his ninken, looking to be considering the option seriously. "That being said... Kakashi, while I don't mind having you and Hiri living here," Minato pauses, smiling warmly before continuing, "You do need to look into other options for housing."

Kakashi nods immediately, shifting a little. "I know. Otherwise I'll be an unreliable guardian, one who has to rely on someone else to provide for him." There is an unhappy twist to his lips under his mask that Rin doesn't like, and Minato's smile fades and blooms into a frown.

"Kakashi-kun, there is nothing wrong with accepting the help of others. Nobody expects a teenager your age to know the first thing about parenting, so rather than this labeling you as 'an unreliable guardian', it would be considered an appropriate response to an unfamiliar situation."

Kakashi thinks about that for a moment before nodding. He's only fourteen and Rin doesn't know anyone else that young with a child, so no one could reasonably expect him to be perfect right off the bat. Minato is their de facto guardian until they're sixteen, so Kakashi has at least two years where he can rely on their sensei without anyone saying a single word about it.

"Sensei," Rin shifts, the silence getting a little uncomfortable. She's a people person, she likes to hear others speak and she likes to talk herself. Kakashi isn't shy, but he does enjoy the quiet and Minato is usually more than content to let silence sit for a while when he's thinking something through. "What about Hiri's grandparents?" She kind of wants to know more about them because it's exceeding rare for a Uchiha to marry outside of their clan and these two have done exactly that all but in name.

"I think it's a good idea to let Hiri get a little more settled before letting them spend very much time with Hiri-"

Kakashi cuts Minato off, "No-" He swallows and shakes his head when the blond looks at him in question, "No, I think... They were willing to let me have almost unrestricted access to Hiri, if they had gotten custody. I'm not going to cut Obito's parents out of their grandchild's life. I can't do that to Hiri."

Rin has to smile because Kakashi is kind of adorable, trying to make sure that Hiri isn't ignorant of his family. She is a little worried about how he keeps bring up Obito though, because this isn't about him, this is about Hiri.

She doesn't want Kakashi to see Hiri as nothing but Obito's proxy, but she's not sure how to bring that up without insulting him. Maybe she's just imagining it, or overreacting - and even if she isn't, it wouldn't be totally unreasonable for her teammate to try and keep his late lover alive in his son. Still, the thought makes her uneasy. She knows that growing up in Obito's shadow, no matter how well-intentioned Kakashi may be, wouldn't be good for the toddler.

But Kakashi wanting Hiri to have contact with Obito's parents, she takes as a good sign because that means that however uncomfortable Kakashi may be with a situation, he'll put aside his personal feeling for Hiri's sake. She hopes dearly that it will last.

Minato watches Kakashi, and that uncomfortable silence is starting to turn the air oppressive again, but before Rin can come up with something to break it, Minato turns towards Kakashi.

"Kakashi..." Minato hesitates for a moment, and then indicates the kitchen door with a hand. When they're seated around the kitchen table, Minato continues, "Kakashi, I know that you are a very private person," he pauses again, and Rin wonders what is making the man so hesitant. He's never had any problem talking to them, or questioning them when he feels it necessary. Like a good Hokage would. Like a good commander would. Like a good parent would.

She also finds it interesting that Minato doesn't look so much worried or disturbed - like when bringing bad news - as he seems... flustered.

"I feel the need to ask you a bit more about your relationship with Obito," he says softly and Rin feels Kakashi stiffen at her side. Which is worrying, because Kakashi should be comfortable with their relationship by now, shouldn't he? Or perhaps he'd never managed to accept his... inclinations? Rin forces back a blush at the thought of her teammate in some inappropriate position and focuses back on the way Kakashi's body is so very still. Perhaps his trouble isn't with accepting himself, but with the fact that his first _lover_ was the one to die. Perhaps he hasn't quite managed to accept that part of Obito's death, even when he'd accepted the passing of a teammate and a friend?

"What do you want to know?" the genius asks stiffly, and Rin wants to say: _Everything_. She wants to know everything about how they'd fallen in love, how they'd managed to hide it, if they'd been happy...

Minato leans forward, placing a hand carefully over the one Kakashi has fisted on the tabletop. Her teammate doesn't quite pull back, but his white-knuckled fist doesn't soften either.

"When did you first realize - ?" Minato asks carefully, gaze gently searching and Rin tries her best not to stare. She doesn't want Kakashi to feel cornered, but she's very interested in his answer.

"I- always knew he was attractive," Kakashi looks at the table studiously so he doesn't have to look at their sensei or her and Rin is horrified to feel a giggle coming on. She shouldn't be _giggling_ whilst Kakashi talks about his dead lover! "We didn't- I-" Kakashi stutters a bit, trying to explain what he's thinking, what had happened, "We weren't... _together_ for very long before the rock fall. It was fast, and short, but-" He ducks his head, "He changed me. So much." He's silent for a moment and then his speaks again, anguished, "I wish he were still alive, still here, with- _us_."

Rin can't help but want to hung Kakashi. There hasn't been a lot of explanation, but it's enough to know that Kakashi really did love Obito. She scoots her chair around the table so that she's right beside her teammate and she wraps her arms around him.

He lets her hug him and it's the first time since forever that he hasn't shrugged her off and walked away.

Minato sits back in his chair, regarding Kakashi and her and Rin gives him a curious look.

"Kakashi, did Obito ever tell you about his parents? I noticed that you were surprised about their lifestyles."

Kakashi blinks and shrugs, "Like I said, Sensei, our being- together while Obito was still alive was short. I only heard him speak of his family in broad terms, either mentioning his parents as a whole, or the Uchiha clan as one."

"I see," Minato frowns faintly and Rin wonders why. When he continues questioning her teammate, she understands, "Did you have time to come to terms with your orientation while Obito was still alive?"

Rin watches Kakashi's face blank and thinks that maybe he hadn't had time. Now that he's admitted to his relationship with Obito, he has to face up to being at least bisexual and Rin has seen how hard it is for some people, even geniuses or shinobi to come out. Hell, she'd just seen two examples this afternoon with the Uchiha's. Fugaku certainly wasn't gay-friendly, but he seemed to respect and not look down on his two clan members for their orientation and yet they still had to live outside of the compound.

Kakashi doesn't say anything for several moments, and Rin can see his eyes shifting from left to right and back again. She wonders if he's trying to think up lies, maybe, or trying to explain his orientation away somehow. Minato isn't doing anything to encourage him to speak though; instead waiting patiently for Kakashi to answer of his own volition.

"That - it wasn't - It was just Obito," he finally mutters and then sags back into his chair, continuing in a quieter voice, "Only Obito." And Rin wonders if her teammate thinks that Obito was an exception to his heterosexuality, or if he means Obito is the only one to have ever - aroused him. Who he's ever been attracted to, romantically. Sexually. And she thinks she's going to stop contemplating that right now, or she really will blush. Which would be somewhat telling, and might even put Kakashi off speaking further.

Rin doesn't want to be the reason her teammate draws back into his shell, not now when he's finally opening up. And then she wonders if Kakashi is opening up because he's felt the need to speak about this for a long time. Perhaps he's been trying to work up his courage to tell them. Perhaps he'd been doing that since before Obito died.

...Maybe that was why they'd fought so often towards the end? Because she doubts Obito would have been uncomfortable with his orientation, with his family dynamics as they are. And he'd never been to good at keeping secrets (well, secrets outside of their work, anyway), so maybe he'd wanted to tell them. Wanted them to be a couple openly. If that's how it was, it would probably add a whole other layer to Kakashi's guilt, Rin thinks and tries to hold back a wave of pity for her teammate.

Kakashi never responded well to pity. Most people don't, she supposes, especially those who made a living off being lone wolves. (Though Kakashi obviously hadn't really been a lone wolf.)

"Kakashi, there is nothing wrong with your and Obito's relationship," Minato says in a very matter-of-fact voice and Kakashi nods jerkily, his gaze boring into the table. Rin doesn't think he believes their teacher, and when she looks closer, she sees a slight blush creep over the edges of the mask. Kakashi _never_ blushes.

Minato sighs lightly, his eyes sad as he looks at his student. Rin too, finds it sad that for all his genius, Kakashi still can't accept himself.

"I know," He murmurs and Rin can tell that he doesn't believe what he's just said. "I'm worried about how Hiri will react tomorrow morning when he wakes up and has processed everything that happened today."

"Hiri will be find with it," Rin pipes up. She doesn't like the way that Kakashi looks, the despair in his eye, "Hiri loves you. he chose you over his blood relatives because he loves you and you love him and he knows you will never hurt him." Rin's face falls and she swallows back tears, "Hiri-kun needs that, Kakashi. He needs to know that you will always be on his side, that you will always love him and never hurt him, no matter what."

"I won't," Kakashi promises to her, as though she were a stand in for Obito, for Hiri's blood parents, "I won't hurt him. I'll do my utmost best to make sure that he's always safe and loved and cared for."

She has to say this, just once; to his face just once, "You have to love him for him, Kakashi. You can't love him just because he's Obito's son."

Kakashi frowns with something in his expression that she's never seen before and she thinks that it might be incomprehension, "What do you mean, love him because he's Obito's? I love him because he's Hiri."

She won't say anything else about it right now, she'll let him think about it, and about how he's treating and talking about Hiri. Once he goes over his behavior, he'll see what he's doing. If need be, Minato-sensei will be able to knock some sense into him. Without unduly hurting him, anyway.

It's obvious that Kakashi himself hasn't actually realized how he's been treating Hiri. At least now she's put the cards on the table; there is nothing more to be said about the issue at the moment. The fact that he abruptly shifted subjects from his and Obito's relationship to Hiri probably needs to be dealt with further, though. She won't let her teammate feel ashamed of what he and Obito had shared. That would taint the memories, she thinks.

So she plunges in with all the courage and caring she has for Kakashi. (She would have added 'love' to that, but somehow that doesn't really seem appropriate.)

"Kakashi," she says, wondering if she might be able to spin this in another direction, "It wouldn't be good if Hiri grew up believing that his father's relationship with you was something bad."

Kakashi looks up from where he'd been focused on his hands, and again he stills. It's unnerving to see someone as stoic as her teammate so obviously uncomfortable, and for something that he shouldn't be uncomfortable about.

"Hiri doesn't need to know the details about - about Obito and I," he answers, squaring his shoulders. Rin tries not to gape at him in shock, because Kakashi can't be intending to keep something this important a secret from Hiri. From his and Obito's son.

"Kakashi..." Minato murmurs, brow creasing as he closes his eyes for just a moment. She can see how this is hurting him, but for once, she doesn't think Kakashi can. Their sensei leans forward, clasping both of Kakashi's fists in his hands and Kakashi looks up at him reluctantly, eyes sliding from the downward gaze to meet their sensei's eyes. Whatever he sees makes him flinch and Rin isn't sure if she wants to hit him or cry. Oh, Kakashi.

"All he's known of homosexuals are that they're willing to hurt him," he repeats what he'd said earlier that day and Rin grimaces. It's true, but Hiri hadn't reacted badly to finding out that Kakashi had been in a relationship with his father, or that his grandparents were both - all? - gay. She says as much, and his shoulders twitch in a failing attempt to shrug. A beat of silence passes.

"What will happen if you ever fall for another man, Kakashi-kun?" Minato finally inquires softly, making a logical argument that Rin hopes will get through to her teammate. She doesn't want Hiri to grow up believing that he has to hide - be ashamed of - the fact that his father had been in a same-sex relationship.

Kakashi's face goes startlingly white and Rin thinks for a moment that he's going to hyperventilate, but then the color starts to come back and he shakes his head.

"Highly unlikely, Sensei. Obito was the only one I'll let that far into my life."

Minato looks as pained as Rin feels. Kakashi can't be serious, she thinks; he can't be swearing off all romantic entanglements! He's only fourteen, for gods' sakes!

"Kakashi," She touches his shoulder gently, drawing his attention, "You can't hide yourself away- you can't stop yourself from looking for another partner. I know that it'll be difficult with Obito's... death in your past, but you can't let that stop you from-"

"It's not about Obito anymore," Kakashi interrupts her, "I won't give Hiri a reason to think that he's being replaced as the most important person in my life. And Obito was the only boy I've ever even _vaguely considered _sexually. I doubt that I'll ever look at another boy that way."

Rin can feel tears in her eyes. Kakashi has so many troubles right now; adopting Hiri, finding a place to call home, eschewing romantic relations, denying he's bisexual...

He lays a gentle hand on her hair and she feels horrible about pushing him into admitting anything because she doesn't want to hurt him.

But she also doesn't want Hiri hurt, and by growing up with a father who denies his own sexuality, it could be worse for Hiri. After all, Hiri's father and grandparents are gay; what's to say that he won't be as well? She knows that there are studies that say that homosexuality isn't hereditary, but come on. Just looking at Obito's family, one could see the correlation between a child's sexuality and their parents'.

"It's okay, Rin," Kakashi tells her softly. "I know you're just trying to help, but... I-" She can feel his body move as he shakes his head, "I need more time. Can you give me that?"

"Hai," Rin nods into his sleeve. She can give him a little more time. After all, he never had to think about it after Obito died and now there is someone else involved, someone fragile. She knows that he doesn't want to hurt Hiri as much as she doesn't want the baby boy hurt.

"Kakashi, we will let this go for now, but someday soon we will have to discuss it further," Minato closes the discussion with those words, and Rin leans back from Kakashi's arms, rubbing at her eyes.

Kakashi nods, slowly, eye dark and inscrutable.

It's only the middle of the afternoon, but Rin is tired. She can understand why Hiri would be tired as well, but it still worries her that he's been sleeping practically _all the time._ She'd also like to keep talking with her team, but she has a shift scheduled at the hospital from five until one and she needs to leave now so that she has some time to get ready for it. If it's slow enough, she might be able to do some more tests on what's left of Hiri's blood sample.

She hugs Kakashi again, and then Minato, and says her goodbyes. As she leaves Minato's house, she heartily wishes that she were able to stay.

****x****

Rin wanders back to Minato's house, rubbing her face tiredly. She hadn't gotten much sleep this past night. Not that she'd really expected to, not with everything going on.

"Minato-sensei?" she calls out, knocking on the door before inviting herself in. She removes her shoes at the door and looks up, hearing the light steps of an unguarded shinobi, a whisper away from silent.

"Kushina-san!" Rin jumps up, surprised, when the redhead grins at her. "We weren't expecting you to be back for a few days yet!" Kushina grins wider at those words, opening her arms for an embrace. Laughing, Rin hugs her.

"I figured you would be missing me too badly to stay away for much longer-ttebane," she answers slyly and Rin quirks an eyebrow at the woman. She was sure the 'you' in that sentence meant 'Minato', and equally sure Kushina only said it to tease her lover.

"How was your mission?" Rin asks Kushina curiously, knowing she won't get any details, but politely curious nevertheless. Kushina shrugs a shoulder and sits, shifting to accommodate Minato wrapping an arm around her waist.

"It was alright, nothing special," she comments and turns to kiss her lover's cheek. Rin is very happy to see Minato's eyes sparkle. Kushina never fails to cheer him up. She has a lot of presence, the redhead does. Never does one ignore her when she enters a room or a conversation, and like Obito, she has a stubbornly optimistic streak a mile wide. Rin can't help but ponder if that is why she and Kakashi's relationship has become more comfortable lately - because she reminds him of his lover.

She would have said something in response, if Kakashi hadn't appeared at the top of the stairs with a frightened look in his eye, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Kakashi?" Minato frowns and stands up from the couch, staring at the teenager as he slowly descends the stairs.

Rin feels a bit of fear rise when Kakashi stares at their sensei blankly and speaks in a tone empty of emotion, "Hiri refuses to come out of his room."

Rin sucks in a breath. Had she been wrong? They had all thought that Hiri had taken to his homosexual grandparents quite well, but maybe he hadn't. Maybe it was too much for him now; now that he's had some time to consider it.

Minato is across the floor and at Kakashi's side in less then a moment and he takes Kakashi's elbow to steady Rin's teammate when his body wavers, "Kakashi?"

"He- he's scared of me. He _flinched_ from me..." If Rin didn't know any better, she'd say that Kakashi was about to cry. But he isn't, because Kakashi doesn't cry. Never has, never will.

And that brightness in his eye is a trick of the light, just a trick of the light. She takes a step forward anyway, so she's almost within arms reach.

"Kakashi, it's not your fault," Minato says soothingly, "You've done nothing wrong." He looks worried though, exchanging a glance with Rin and flicking his eyes up the stairs. Clearly he wants her to see what is wrong, and it hurts, but she almost protests that - because Kakashi is who Hiri trusts the most. "Did he say why he's refusing to come out of his room?" Their sensei continues when Kakashi just keeps staring blankly. He looks like the world has fallen down over his ears and Rin just wants to go over and hug him and assure him that everything is alright. But right now, whatever is wrong with Hiri - if Hiri is afraid of his grandparents after all - is more important.

Oh. Perhaps Kakashi also believes that that is why Hiri is refusing to come out. A flash of despair curls in her heart, because if that is how it is, Kakashi will never accept his orientation. Ever. Not if that risks Hiri's love - Hiri's feeling of safety - with him.

"No," her teammate shakes his head slowly, "He buried himself under the blankets just before I left the room." His voice is soft and bland, as blank as his expression, and again Rin can't help but think that her worry was correct, that he's getting too attached. He's practically out of commission by the mere thought - suspicion - that Hiri doesn't want to be with him anymore.

"I go see if he'll talk to me," Rin tells Kakashi in a soothing voice and he winces and suddenly she knows that he's thinking. Hiri isn't going to be afraid of her because she's not gay.

Son-of-a-bitch.

She hadn't meant to insinuate that she was better with Hiri than him; she hadn't meant to make it seem as though Minato and Fugaku had been wrong in letting Kakashi adopt Hiri.

Finally he nods, and tries to smile, but it's flat and she wouldn't have ever thought that it was real even if she didn't know him. "Thank you," he whispers to her as she steps past him and she can feel him watch her ascend to the second floor and disappear around the corner.

Rin stops outside of Hiri's door and listens closely. She can't hear Hiri crying, but he might not be.

In fact, she might not be dealing with Hiri.

That thought pauses her for a moment, because she doesn't want to see Harri right now. Doesn't want to know that Hiri had been so uncomfortable and afraid that his alter had come out. That would feel like a confirmation, and she doesn't want a confirmation.

Then she knocks on the door - not because she's expecting him to allow her in, but to warn her that she's coming. Warn Hiri, because otherwise he'll be terribly frightened. Or Harri, because otherwise he might regard her entrance as the coming of an enemy.

"I'm coming in," she adds, and slowly twist the handle down, giving the boy ample time to prepare himself.

When she enters the room, it's dimly lit and all she can see in the bed Hiri is supposed to lie in is a pile of covers. She can feel his chakra though, coming in bursts from inside the pile. Can feel it spiking erratically, though she's not sure if it's a terrified Hiri or an angry and defensive Harri.

She walks forward, but stops well ahead of the bed, crouching down. "Hiri?"

He doesn't answer. The bundle of material over his body shakes a little and then the boy stills. Rin reaches out very slowly and touches the blankets and pillows that Hiri has made into a fort.

"Hiri-kun?" She keeps her voice soft, "Are you okay?"

There's silence for a bit and then she can see his green eyes through a whole in the blankets that Hiri makes to look at her. She isn't surprised to see flecks of sharingan red in his eyes. "Is the monster gone yet?" He asks and Rin just about dies.

Hiri thinks that Kakashi is a monster? Gods...

She swallows her horror quietly, wondering what she can say or should do to fix this. And she's not entirely sure that this wouldn't have been easier with Hiri's alter, since Hiri himself is as a three year old should be, and thus has a three year old logic. Or lack of logic, as it is. She doubts she'll be able to convince him with logical arguments in any case.

Rin doesn't dare try to draw the covers off of the boy, since that might set of a panic attack. Rin blinks as a realization clears her mind; a panic attack would also lead to the pulse speeding up and pumping blood - _and poison_ faster through the body. She hadn't even considered that up until now, but she'll need to be extra careful in case an excess of the poison could be harmful for Hiri. Even if the 'normal' amount of poison doesn't seem to hurt him, that just might.

She sits down with her legs crossed, placing her palms flat against the covers. "Hiri, may I ask why you think he's a monster?" she asks very carefully, infusing her voice with the slightest amount of calming genjutsu. Hiri's green eyes blink at her, the traces of red fading as she looks, and a small hand comes up to clutch at the bunched up edges of the hole.

"He's inside people," Hiri's hand withdraws, and the covers shift as he pulls them closer to his body. Rin closes her eyes, despair threatening to break through as tears, before she manages to stem the flow. Gods damn it. Of course Hiri would think that someone who has been inside someone else is a monster. But gods, she doesn't want this to happen. Doesn't want to go downstairs and tell Kakashi that.

She's also not sure why Hiri would think that Kakashi has been inside Obito, rather than the other way around, though she supposes that makes sense to her as well. Kakashi is the one here after all, not Obito. Hiri hasn't seen a lot of people survive, if _any_ other than himself, after having had someone inside of them. It's blunt force logic that Kakashi must have been the 'husband' in the relationship because he's still alive.

"Hiri-kun, he's not a monster," She tells him in a soft voice, "I know that it might not seem that way to you right now, but he's not."

"I don't believe you," Hiri mumbles through his protective, handmade fort. "He's bad. He... feels bad." She can barely see his eyes and they're shuttered and Hiri is hiding inside of himself. "He feels bad," He repeats, muttering.

Curious despite herself, Rin wonders in what way Hiri can feel Kakashi; if it's his chakra that he feels, or something else entirely. After all, Hiri hadn't used chakra to heal Minato's face after having that episode in the kitchen a few days ago.

"Hiri-kun, can you trust me? Will you trust me and Minato-sensei that we'll never let him hurt you? Please, Hiri-kun," she strokes the side of the fort as though she were touching Hiri directly and the pile shakes again, quivering under her fingers.

Hiri finally reaches out and lets her take his hand, "You protect me, Rin-sama?" He sounds so childish and innocent and even though the fear is mostly gone, Rin hates that she can feel hatred for those who hurt Hiri, and elation that Hiri trusts her so very much. But there's nothing she can do about that right now so she focuses back on Hiri and not her inner turmoil.

If she can convince Hiri that she and Minato will keep him safe from Kakashi, who isn't a threat in the least, maybe Hiri will start to trust the young jounin again soon.

Maybe.

Rin slowly pulls Hiri out of his fort, careful to make sure he's not resisting and allowing her to draw him of his own free will. Then he's seated in her lap, and she strokes his back gently. "We'll protect you, Hiri-kun. Always." Hiri hunches his shoulders but he's also snuggling into her, so she keeps her arms wrapped around him.

"Would you come with me to see him?" she asks after a minute of calming silence, keeping her voice light and without pressure. She doesn't doubt that Hiri would follow her down to see Kakashi if she told him to, but it has to be his choice.

"What if he goes inside me?" Hiri asks, voice tight with fear and Rin feels her breathing stutter. She can't believe everything has gone to hell so quickly, not with how everything had turned out so well yesterday, with the adoption and all.

"Hiri-kun, he won't do that," Rin assures him, trying so hard to keep her voice from wavering, or from strangling him in her arms. She wants him to feel safe. She wants him to feel safe with Kakashi. How are they going to be able to make a family like this?

"Because you will protect me?" Hiri asks, and Rin wants to say _No, not because I will protect you. Because you won't ever __need protection from Kakashi._ But she keeps her mouth shut and nods. She doubts Hiri would believe those words right now.

"I will always protect you," She finally tells him. She can't bring herself to say that she'll protect him from Kakashi because she knows she'll never have to, but he needs to know that she'll be his protector. It's probably the only way she's going to be able to get him out of this room and downstairs.

It takes a little longer before Hiri relaxes enough in her arms that she thinks he's ready to go. She bites her lip for a moment before inwardly shrugging. What would anyone in the house care that Hiri was in a pair of sweatpants and one of Kakashi's shirts? Hiri is three, no one will even look twice.

Absently she wonders just what Minato and Kakashi are telling Kushina about Hiri and his past. She hopes that the older woman will be less exuberant than she usually is because she doesn't want Hiri to be scared of Kushina, of Minato's partner.

She stands and Hiri winds his arms around her neck and buries his face into her collar. She shushes to him gently and settles him on her hip, rocking lightly back and forth, trying her best to keep him calm. The calmer he is, the less she has to worry about his heart.

Hiri refuses to look up from her neck as she steps into the hallway and starts to the stairs. She can feel his body tense, but he doesn't start to shiver or shake so he's only scared, not terrified.

She's seen him terrified and she never wants to see it again.

The closer they get to the stairs, the tenser Hiri gets, and when she starts walking down, she can feel his breathing pick up just a little. She stops where she is and hums to him, aware that all activity in the little group has stopped and that they're all focused on the two of them.

"I'm scared," Hiri whispers into her ear, and all Rin can think of even as her throat constricts is how glad she is that Kakashi didn't hear him say that. She doesn't want to know what kind of expression her teammate would have reacted with, but she's sure it would have stayed in her mind for a very long time afterwards.

"You needn't be, Hiri-kun," she whispers back at him and continues their descent, wrapping her arms around him tightly, "I'm here with you." Gods, but she hates how frightened he is, she hates how she can't do anything to help other than promise him things that makes her want to cry.

They finally come to stand at the base of the stairs, and Rin feels Hiri's tiny arms clench around her as he fairly burrows his face into the side of her neck.

"Hiri-kun, we're glad to see you here," Minato's tone is warm and calm, but his eyes are not. Kakashi has moved further back, standing by Kushina with his face half-turned away. It's clear he can't quite bring himself not to look at Hiri, and equally clear that it hurts him to see his son in her arms, knowing that Hiri is afraid of him.

Hiri murmurs into her throat and Rin gives her sensei a pained smile. Minato's look says he understands and the blond steps towards them. Hiri doesn't flinch from Minato and Rin thinks that that's a good thing.

"Hiri-kun, I know you're scared right now, but may I introduce a good friend of mine?" Minato speaks quietly and Rin wonders at a moment as to why he's not telling Hiri his relationship with Kushina, but then feels like slapping herself upside the back of the head. Seen from the outside, Minato is the dominant in that relationship, being the man, and she doesn't think that Hiri would be able to separate that from the seme in a homosexual relationship.

Hiri peaks out from her neck and glances in Kakashi's direction for a second, completely ignoring Minato. His eyes go wide and he buries he head in her neck again with a tiny whimper. "He's- feels mean," he moans into her skin and she rocks him gently.

"He won't hurt you, Hiri-kun, I swear." Rin cuddles Hiri to her and the look in Kakashi's eye is painful for her to see.

"But he's inside-" Hot tears smear over her neck and she cuddles Hiri a little closer to her, "He's inside and he's so dangerous..."

"I've never been inside anyone," Kakashi bursts out in a low, intense voice, trying to prove his innocence to his son and Rin feels a little shocked. She knows that he's talking to Hiri, telling Hiri that he's not a danger to him, but finding out that Kakashi is still a virgin in that manner is a surprise and she blinks at him with incomprehension. She's certainly not a virgin, not at her age; but then again, Kakashi's not really a virgin is he? He's just never been seme.

"Kakashi," There is a warning in Minato's voice that most would never ignore, but Kakashi is his student, has been raised by him for nine years. He knows the consequences of disobeying and he must think that this is worth it.

"I've never been inside anyone, Hiri-kun," the teenaged boy repeats, "Obito was the only one that- I only ever received from Obito."

Hiri uncurls a little from her and Rin shifts to accommodate his movements. Minato is looking at Kakashi with an unreadable expression and Kushina is all but staring, mouthing something under her breath. Rin can sympathize with her shocked expression, because she hadn't been expecting that either. Not blushing is becoming more difficult for her the more Kakashi insists that he's never been seme.

"Kakashi-sama?"

Kakashi takes another step forward, and though Hiri doesn't flinch back or try to get away, he's also not leaning towards her teammate like he usually does. Minato is watching the proceedings with a frown, but he doesn't step in to interrupt. Rin can tell he's not pleased, however.

"Hiri-kun," Rin sees Kakashi swallow just before he stops moving ahead, and it hurts that he feels he's not welcome. She'd tell him to come closer, but she doesn't want to exacerbate Hiri's fear. Doesn't want Kakashi to see that fear. "I've never been inside anyone," he repeats, very softly, but with eyes so intense they're practically burning. Rin thinks that Kakashi must be willing Hiri to understand and accept his words and hopes it'll work. Kakashi shouldn't wear an expression of such naked desperation.

"Okay?" Hiri says, unsure, and Rin doesn't think the boy believes the words. Apparently Kakashi doesn't either, because his face falls and his body tightens. It's horrible to watch, and Minato approaches to stand next to him, a hand on his back. Rin doesn't think that support will be enough.

Kakashi staggers towards Hiri slowly so as not to startle the toddler and thankfully, Hiri never flinches from him. He doesn't reach for Kakashi but he does allow Rin to hand him over to his newly adopted father. Kakashi cuddles him to his chest and Rin feels her heart relax, just a little. Hiri is trusting Kakashi not to hurt him in their presence, at least. That's good.

"Hiri, I will never hurt you, I will never, ever hurt you," Kakashi whispers into the boy's ear and Hiri nods, resting his cheek on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Okay," Hiri repeats himself, this time with more belief in his voice than the first time. After a moment, Hiri raises his head from Kakashi's shoulder and looks towards Kushina, the only person in the room he hasn't met yet.

"Heya there, kiddo," Kushina smiles brightly, her purple eyes bright with curiosity that Rin knows she won't air right now. Kushina knows how to do discreet, even if it doesn't seem like it.

Hiri's eyes trail over the woman and Kushina lets him observe her, catalog her, and try to figure out if she's dangerous to him. She cocks her head to the side and tucks a long lock of deep red hair behind her ear. Hiri's eyes are drawn to the movement and Rin abruptly remembers that Hiri said his mother had red hair. Maybe that similarity will help Hiri to trust Kushina more readily.

"Hi," Hiri breaths out his greeting.

Minato steps back into the picture and Hiri is startled enough by his sudden movement to tear his eyes from Kushina for a moment before turning back to watch her like a hawk.

"Hiri-kun, this is my very good friend, Uzumaki Kushina," Minato smiles lovingly at Kushina and she rolls her eyes at him. "Kushina, this is Kakashi's adopted son, Hatake Hiri."

"Uchiha," Kakashi interrupts Minato and Rin blinks in surprise, then again in understanding. Kakashi doesn't want to take Hiri's father from him in anyway that Obito is still here, so Hiri will be keeping the Uchiha name.

"-Uchiha Hiri," Minato corrects himself, not bothering to get into it right now. This is no time to be getting into a fight about last names, not when Hiri is still dealing with his feelings in regards to Kakashi having been in a homosexual relationship.

"Pleased to meet you, Hiri-kun," Kushina gives Hiri a little wave and Hiri smiles shyly back, wiggling his fingers at her over Kakashi's shoulder.

"Pleased to meet you, Kushina-sama," Hiri murmurs. Then he turns his attention to Minato and in a completely serious tone asks, "Can the demon escape the pretty lady, Minato-sama?"

*****xxXXxx*****

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